New York Rangers could be facing identity crisis

The New York Rangers are better than anyone expected them to be. Will flirting with a playoff spot hurt the rebuild they publicly embraced a short season ago?

The unfortunate reality of any sport is that no team is good forever. Every period of success will eventually lead to a few inevitable lean seasons where management might have to resort to a rebuild. After the better part of a decade as a prime Stanley Cup contender, although only one finals appearance and loss to show for it, this is the place that the New York Rangers found themselves last season. It might not have been what their fans wanted, but it was far from unexpected.

Just a few short months after writing an open letter than signaled the rebuild, with full support from management and ownership, the Rangers are in the worst best position this season. They are playing better than anyone expected them to be this season, which is a “problem” most team’s wish they could have. The problem behind playing beyond expectations is that this success, for lack of a better word, comes while the Rangers are barely one foot into what they already promised to be a drastic rebuild.

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This leaves the 2018-2019 Rangers at the crossroads of an identity crisis – do they stand firm in their rebuild, or change course for one season to ride their lucky success streak out for a shot at the playoffs? Most armchair GM’s would say no while many fair weather fans would hear the word “playoffs” and encourage New York to chase glory at the Garden.

The logical answer would be to tell the Rangers don’t avoid a rebuild, take it one season at a time to try to collect draft picks and assets to speed up their rebuild and achieve sustainable success.  The actual reality is a bit more complicated though.

No matter how much a team is built for success, success doesn’t necessarily come easy or when you want it most (ask the 2014 Rangers that). Perhaps the most compelling argument for putting a temporary stay on the rebuilt and throwing the Broadway hat in the race for a Wild card spot is the emergence of center Mika Zibanejad.

Zibanejad, a former high first-round pick of the Ottawa Senators, has always been a productive player, but this was the season he knocked his performance into high gear. Zibanejad already has 58 points on the season, already crushing his career high, and putting him on pace to be a point per game player for the first time in his career. His personal play has lifted the performance of his entire team to make them flirt with thoughts of a playoff appearance when everyone expected they would be lottery dwellers.

Unfortunately for Mika, his personal success has not matched up with that of his team’s. His performance seems best suited for the 2014 cup run he was absent from instead of the current 2019 situation.

Also adding to the argument that the Rangers should play from now is possible buyer’s remorse over Kevin Shattenkirk. Shattenkirk is far removed from his offensive-producing defenseman days on the Blues, but him signing his lucrative free agent contract with New York was ill-timed when they decided to rebuild a few short months later.  Also adding to the argument is the impending unrestricted free agency of forwards Kevin Hayes and Mats Zuccarello.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Rangers have something holding back their rebuild, and sadly it’s something that their fans and organizations hold near and dear to their hearts. This unfortunate roadblock is their beloved goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

When Lundqvist announced he wanted to stay in New York despite the rebuild and the struggles that were sure to follow, the Rangers faithful were thrilled. After all you couldn’t blame them, as most have grown up watching his entire legendary career come to fruition with little to show for it. Ask a Devils fan and they’ll tell you they love Marty Brodeur. Ask a Canadiens fan and they’ll tell you they love Patrick Roy. Ask a Rangers fan and they’ll tell you they love Henrik Lundqvist.

Even though Lundqvist wants his career to go off into the sunset in a Rangers jersey, for him there will be no storybook ending. Lundqvist has been less effective than usual in goal with dwindling numbers through the season, currently sporting a goals against average of 3.02 with a win-loss record of barely .500. Even if Lundqvist replicated his career best numbers from the Vezina seasons that seem like a short eternity ago, the Rangers would still struggle to be competitive. Instead of using the roster space on a rebuilding team, the Rangers could have traded him for a valuable asset to a contender than would be more than thrilled to have veteran goaltending. That way, Rangers fans can see Lundqvist pull a Ray Bourque and end his successful career in storybook fashion like he deserves, even if it won’t be a in a Rangers jersey like they dreamed.

While you can make the case for either continuing with the rebuild or putting it off one year to hope for a Cinderella run, the purpose of a rebuild is to build sustainable success. The trade deadline is fast approaching and will act as Judgement Day on if Rangers will continue will the rebuild path set to cruise control, or take an enormous risk on the 2019 season. Whether they emerge as buyers or sellers is something they can’t turn back from.

They have plenty of pieces that would attract bidding wars among buyers, but only for assets that wouldn’t pay off until the future. If the Rangers wanted to go the instant gratification route and be buyers at the deadline, there is no foreseeable way for them to give up any assets in the form of players or draft picks that wouldn’t massively sacrifice their future.

Rangers’ fans may not want to hear it, and Rangers executives might be too busy day dreaming of a 2019 Stanley Cup parade with co-Conn Smythe winners Zibanejad and Lundqvist to realize it, but the Rangers aren’t a Stanley Cup threat this year and most likely aren’t for the immediate future. The only way their Stanley Cup window will open again is with a little bit of patience.

2019 isn’t their year, so don’t fool yourself into thinking it is.