New York Rangers: Difficult road ahead following Tom Wilson fallout

It has been a wild week or so for the New York Rangers in the wake of the Tom Wilson incident.

I think it is safe to say that Tom Wilson got pretty good value out of his $5,000 fine against the New York Rangers. Or investment. Honestly, it is whichever term you prefer at this point. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has built a reputation for maximizing league profits, growing the NHL’s presence worldwide, expanding the league into non-traditional markets like the Sun Belt at the expense of Canada and the Northern United States, and his fine towards Wilson is no exception.

For just $5,000, Wilson was able to contribute to the following (direct involvement aside):

• Take out Rangers star forward Artemi Panarin for the rest of the regular season
• Get Rangers forward Pavel Buchnevich suspended one game for high-sticking in their following matchup
• Get Rangers GM Jeff Gorton and Team President John Davidson fired (with both positions being filled by former Rangers forward Chris Drury)
• Get the Rangers a $250,000 fine for a yet to be discussed incident
• And get the entire Rangers coaching staff (aside from Goalie Coach Benoit Allaire) fired

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Needless to say, this is some great value for money for a player who’s already making a healthy $5.166,666 million AAV. Ok, in all seriousness though, I do realize that there’s a lot to discuss regarding this situation besides the aforementioned fallout, and I do realize that much of these events can be seen as unrelated depending on your viewpoint and / or organizational perspective.

Furthermore, I get that this situation is a continually expanding and exploding can of worms with no apparent way to stop its impact. Yet, in spite of all of that, I’m still going to be upfront and direct in addressing the events that have unfolded since that controversial May 3rd, 2021 matchup.

Wilson has doubtless been a controversial figure in the NHL since making his debut during the 2012-13 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Originally seen as a grinding winger with limited scoring ability through his first few NHL seasons, Wilson has flipped that script dramatically since 2017-18, becoming a dangerous two-way winger, and depending on your viewpoint, in both senses of the word. With the increased skill and ability that Wilson has showcased as he’s developed, however, it’s naturally come with more exposure, and subsequently, more controversy.

All of his previous suspensions (including his 20-game ban in 2018) and incidents aside, the focus, as of now, has shifted to what happened on May 3rd, 2021. Facing the Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Wilson got into a second period altercation with Blueshirts forward Pavel Buchnevich, whereupon Wilson punched Buchnevich while he was down on the ice.

Immediately following that, Wilson attacked Panarin, the Rangers star forward and $11 million dollar man, thwarting a helmetless and defenseless Panarin to the ice, knocking him out for the rest of the regular season.

While it’s immediate impact has seemed to fade for the time being, the New York Rangers face a difficult road ahead following the Tom Wilson incident

In spite of the severity of the situation and its surrounding controversy, Head of the Department of Player Safety, former NHL enforcer George Parros, opted not to suspend Wilson, instead slapping him with a $5,000 dollar fine along with his two-minute minor penalty. Following this, the Rangers issued this official statement:

Needless to say, this was a strongly worded statement from a Rangers organization that is no stranger to this idea, having previously announced their realization of the team’s struggles and an immediate commencement of a rebuild in 2018. Well, with that in mind, that exact same rebuild has now hit a huge bump in the road that will definitely require some repairs.

Time and time again, interspersed between my usual ramblings regarding the traditional feel-good-stories or interesting connections that make up my viewpoints on hockey, both in its modern incarnation and its history, I find myself faced with a situation that is increasingly difficult to take a calm and civilized approach towards.

What New York Rangers Owner James Dolan and Senior Adviser Glen Sather have done in the aftermath of this incident, is for the most part, incomprehensible, and above all else, completely and utterly baffling. It’s an example of an immediate decision being made following a similarly immediate statement, both of which have generated immense controversy, and above all else, a stain on the immense progress the Rangers had been making with their aforementioned rebuild.

Not the kind of stain that can be wiped off with a successful offseason, one which will instead require tireless scrubbing and effort that will be both tedious, and hard to watch.

Up until this point, the Rangers had been, from an on-ice perspective, one of the NHL’s most exciting and fast-paced teams, combining a lethal offense with a puck-rushing, quick thinking defense. Along with Panarin’s continued growth as one of the NHL’s top players (insane considering his origins as an unassuming undrafted rookie in the KHL) Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome, Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere, and even Colin Blackwell, have made up the offense heavy approach the Rangers have undergone in disassembling their old core.

Couple this with a solid one-two punch in net of Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin, and it’s obvious to see why the Rangers had taken a complete and total 180 regarding their regular season totals.

Notice how I said had, however. In spite of yet another solid season (with New York falling just short of a Playoff spot due to injuries, and well, this incident) the Rangers have now completely and totally destroyed every foundation that this rebuild was built on, and at least in my opinion, are at a total square one regarding their progress.

While Drury has shown promise in his past in some executive positions, he’s untested as a GM and is dealing with a roster that is far from ready to make a deep postseason run. These are pieces that most expected would naturally fall into place based on the moves made by Gorton, but now it’ll be up to Drury, and while I’m hopeful he can turn things around and keep this train going, I think he’ll need to fix the engine a bit before truly getting back on track, and this past week certainly hasn’t helped matters.

Meanwhile, Wilson has gone from being the center point of this entire situation to the mere catalyst, and I’m sure he’s gladly paying that $5,000 fine as we speak, or in the words of Hall of Fame NFL receiver Randy Moss, “Straight Cash, Homey”.

With the New York Rangers’ regular season now concluded, focus will turn to the offseason, and in spite of a hopeful fresh start under some new executives, it seems as though New York has a long way to go before becoming the perennial Conference Finals contenders of seasons prior. All the while, Tom Wilson will have a $5,000 dent in his salary, and an affirmation as the match that lit the beginning of what looks to be a difficult road ahead for the New York Rangers.