“Saying goodbye to players”: New York Rangers GM Chris Drury planning to trade key veteran players as team enters retooling phase

The New York Rangers are entering a retool phase after experiencing a disappointing season. Owing to the critical situation that the club is reeling under, GM Chris Drury is signaling potential trades of key veterans.

Reports suggest that, on Friday, Rangers GM and president Chris Drury sent a letter to Blueshirts fans confirming that the Original Six club is set to begin a retool. Drury also announced that the Rangers could end up trading players who have provided "great moments over the years."

So far, the Rangers have lost five games in a row, the past four in regulation, to fall to last in the Eastern Conference with 46 points and a .479 points percentage under first-year coach Mike Sullivan.

Meanwhile, as per NHL reports, Drury held a team meeting and met individually with the members of the Rangers’ leadership core, which includes first-year captain J.T. Miller, and alternate captains Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Fox, which is creating a lot of speculation among fans and analysts that who are the players that the team is planning trade amidst the reshuffle.

New York Rangers to trade veteran players as team decides to retool rosters

The New York Rangers will begin to retool their roster this season, which means they will be parting ways with several players who have been key to their success in recent years. This was announced by president and general manager Chris Drury, who wrote in a letter to the fanbase that the team released publicly on Friday.

Rangers GM and president Chris Drury sent a letter to Blueshirts fans confirming that the Original Six club is set to begin a retool. He wrote, "With our position in the standings and injuries to key players this season, we must be honest and realistic about our situation. “We are not going to stand pat. A shift will give us the ability to be smart and opportunistic as we retool the team. This will not be a rebuild. This will be a retool built around our core players and prospects,” Drury stated in the letter.

He further mentioned, "We will target players that bring tenacity, skill, speed, and a winning pedigree with a focus on obtaining young players, draft picks and cap space to allow us flexibility moving forward. That may mean saying goodbye to players that have brought us and our fans great moments over the years."


However, they did not mention any player, but players like Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Carson Soucy are likely high on the list. It is to be noted that Panarin is in the last year of a seven-year, $81.5 million contract he signed with the Rangers on July 1, 2019. He will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

In addition to this, defenseman Carson Soucy, forwards Jonny Brodzinski and Conor Sheary, and goalie Jonathan Quick can become UFAs on July 1, which could prompt the team to trade these key players of the team.

Drury further stated that they are going to materialize the plan soon, in the coming weeks and months, "As we start on this new strategic plan, we will continue to play hard with pride and passion for our fans. We appreciate your unwavering support for the Rangers more than we can describe and thank you for all that you do for our organization. You will begin to see some of our plans come to light in the coming weeks and months."


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