The bell has rung for the start of the New York Rangers rebuild, ushering in changes to everything that has made the Blueshirts one of the NHL’s most successful teams for nearly a decade.
This team has to become younger and faster in order to compete with the rest of the NHL. Moves were made to make this new direction a reality when general manager Jeff Gorton sent JT Miller and Ryan McDonagh to Tampa Bay, Rick Nash and Nick Holden to Boston, and Michael Grabner to New Jersey. But perhaps the move that excited Rangers fans more than anything was the firing of former head coach Alain Vigneault at season’s end.