NY Rangers’ season comes to bitter end at hands of Panthers: What’s next?

SUNRISE, Fla. − The Rangers’ Stanley Cup drought, which will hit 30 years this month, is going to last for at least one more trip around the sun.

The Blueshirts and their aching fan base had their championship dreams dashed Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena, where they were eliminated in Game 6 with a 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers, who have now captured back-to-back Eastern Conference titles.

New York fell short in its effort to extend the series, with Panthers’ goals from Sam Bennett and old friend Vladimir Tarasenko sealing their heartbreaking fate. Artemi Panarin cut the deficit to one with 1:39 to remaining, but it was too little, too late.

The team that set a new NHL record for combined comebacks between the regular season and playoffs (34) didn’t have one more rally in them.

That made it impossible to deny what’s been a fairly obvious conclusion throughout this series.

The Panthers are flat-out the better team.

The Rangers pushed them to six games behind a couple courageous overtime wins and the sheer will of Igor Shesterkin, who posted another 32 saves in Game 6. But outside of that advantage in net, they were inferior in just about every other category.

The Cats were faster, stronger and better equipped to dictate their terms, with a swarming forecheck and stifling defense that dominated the Blueshirts for extended stretches. They used that smothering style to create an unmistakable edge in time of possession and offensive-zone time while outshooting the Rangers in five of the six games, often by lopsided margins.

That took many of New York’s point-producing stars out of the mix, with Panarin, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and the hobbled Adam Fox combining for only two goals in the series.

It also highlighted the vulnerability of relying on goaltending, special teams and pixy dust as their winning formula. When the Rangers’ power play went cold, as it did in going 1-for-15 against the Panthers, their middling five-on-five play was exposed.

Rangers’ memorable season comes to an end

It all raises legitimate questions heading into what could be summer of uncertainty.

This Rangers’ core has proven to be very good, as evidenced by winning the Presidents’ Trophy and earning trips to the conference final two of the last three years. But are they good enough to fulfill this city’s unyielding thirst for a Cup?

There was tangible progress this season under head coach Peter Laviolette, who brought much-needed communication and structure while upping the team’s overall preparation and intensity. The result was new franchise records for wins (55) and points (114), along with lasting memories such as Panarin’s career-high 120 points, Alexis Lafrenière’s long-anticipated breakout and the phenomenon that was Matt Rempe Mania. But in the end, the Rangers didn’t have the firepower in front of Shesterkin to outlast a deep, versatile and ferocious team like the Panthers.

That onus falls on the players, who have been through three coaches in the last four years and have no choice now but to look in the mirror. And it starts with the highly paid veterans the team was built around.

The clock is ticking. Kreider, Panarin and Zibanejad, along with Barclay Goodrow, Vincent Trocheck and Jacob Trouba, are all 30 or older. They’re closer to the end of their primes than the beginning, with their championship window inching further shut with each passing year.

Team president Chris Drury is three full seasons into a tenure that began with unexpected upheaval and raised expectations. Outside of Trocheck, who was the Rangers’ best skater in these playoffs and stands as Drury’s finest addition, he’s been trying to win with a roster built on the back of previous general manager Jeff Gorton.

Drury placed his bet that this group could get it done by locking up several Gorton-acquired players to extensions, then declining to sacrifice the assets needed to snag a big fish at the trade deadline, with Jake Guentzel topping the what-if wish list. But how many more chances is he willing to give them?

Fourteen of the 20 players who dressed Saturday are under contract for next season, including each of the Rangers’ six leading scorers. But is running it back with a couple minor tweaks enough to push this nucleus over the hump? Or does he need to seek more substantial changes?

What’s next for Rangers?

There’s no obvious answer, but he may look at Florida as an example of what bold action can accomplish.

The Panthers won their own Presidents’ Trophy in 2021-22 but were swept in the second round by the battle-tested Tampa Bay Lightning. GM Bill Zito responded to that disappointment with a culture-changing trade, sending his leading scorer, Jonathan Huberdeau, and top-pair defenseman, MacKenzie Weegar, to the Calgary Flames in exchange for one of the NHL’s best skill-and-snarl forwards in Matthew Tkachuk.

The result has been back-to-back conference titles, with a chance to win the franchise’s first championship in the coming weeks.

There may not be a Tkachuk-level talent out there for Drury to chase – and even if there is, he may not have the roster flexibility to pull it off.

Panarin, Trocheck and Zibanejad hold full no-movement clauses, but a few other options could come into play this summer.

Kaapo Kakko, who is set to become a restricted free agent, feels like a real candidate to go after posting only 19 points (13 goals and six assists) in 61 games this season and being healthy scratched in Game 2 of the ECF. Even Ryan Lindgren, who’s been such a warrior since his 2019 debut but comes with fears of long-term wear and tear given his rugged style of play, could be at risk as he enters his own RFA period.

But parting ways with those players would only create so much salary cap space. Moving Goodrow, Kreider or Trouba would represent larger savings and open up more possibilities.

Kreider is the least likely of that trio to go anywhere, especially after his heroic hat trick to close out the Carolina Hurricanes in the previous round, but both he and Trouba will be submitting 15-team no-trade lists that become active on July 1. That will leave 16 teams either could technically be traded to.

If that kind of cap space did free up, the questions would shift to what the Rangers most need to add to get over the hump. A center to take some pressure off Zibanejad and provide injury protection for Filip Chytil? A right winger to finally fill the Pavel Buchnevich-sized hole on the top line? An infusion of size and mobility on the blue line? Or additional speed, hustle and grit to fuel better results at 5v5?

These are all conversations to be explored in the coming weeks, but the prevailing sentiment for now is disappointment – disappointment over a thrilling season that created so many memories and offered so much promise but fell short of the ultimate goal.

The 2023-24 New York Rangers were damn good; just not good enough.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

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NY Rangers’ season comes to bitter end at hands of Panthers: What’s next?