The Rangers have 13 games to go until the Feb. 24 trade deadline starting with Friday’s Garden kickoff of a home-and-home against dreadful Detroit, and I don’t think management’s approach will be affected even a little by how well or poorly the Blueshirts make out in those contests.
In other words, disregard the narrative about president John Davidson and general manager Jeff Gorton drawing up two sets of contingencies based upon the team’s status as a playoff contender. The standings will be essentially irrelevant as management looks two, three, four and maybe five years down the line, not one, two or three months.