Ever since I started putting together these prospect rankings - first in the summer of 2014 - it was simply a small part of the puzzle. There were certainly prospects that mattered. Some have graduated to the Rangers, including Pavel Buchnevich and Jesper Fast. Some were important pieces in trades, such as Anthony Duclair and Aleksi Saarela. But the prospect pool was mostly a complementary aspect of an organization whose modus operandi was to Win Now At (Almost) Any Cost.
The Rangers made a few moves last summer to which foreshadowed a change in course, but it has been recent months which have completely flipped everything upside down.