Organizational shift

The New York Rangers spent the better part of the 2014-15 season making moves to bolster the future. Moving out vets for young players, picks and prospects, it looked like the Rangers were moving in the direction of a slow rebuild. Within span of a week, the organization pulled a complete 180 and moved those younger assets for players that are ready to compete for an MRFHL Championship right now.

The first deal largely went under the radar when the Rangers moved to acquire James Van Riemsdyk from the Calgary Flames back on June 19th. The deal was made palatable due to the fact that JVR has 4 years remaining on his contract. I kind of opened the brass eyes to what may be out there in terms of players that many thought may not be available. However, the team needed to wait. Bide their time to make sure that this was the direction they really wanted to move in.

The next "testing" of the waters saw the Rangers and Flames connect again on a deal this time seeing youngsters Leon Draisaitl and Klimchuk head to the Flames for Zach Parise. That trade was the calm before the storm. Following that trade, the team held an organizational meeting where the decision was made that if the deal made sense, for winning now and for the next 2-3 years, no one was untouchable.

"After we made the JVR trade, we sat back to assess the landscape. However, it was that Parise deal that kind of set everything in motion" the GM was quoted as saying. "Once that deal was done, and after a few conversations with teams, the decision was made. If the right deals can be made, lets go for it."

Alex Goligoski, Derek Stepan, Kevin Shattenkirk and Nik Kronwall were all added in the last 10 days.

The GM proclaimed "We think that with the folks we have in place, plus with the additions we have added that we have positioned ourselves to play with any team in the MRFHL and legit compete for the MRFHL Cup."

As this piece was being written, we have been advised that the Rangers may be involved in yet another deal. While the names of the players involved have been sealed, the rumor is that it's just as big as any of the earlier deals made by the team and may further shape not only the Brendl Division, but the Eastern Conference as a whole.

When asked to comment about the current rumor de jour, the GM walked away without saying a word.