With the Kevin Shattenkirk tenure coming to an unceremonious end as the Rangers bought out the final two years of his contract earlier this week, memories of the club’s past woebegone decisions were awakened.
Shattenkirk came to the Blueshirts in 2017 as a free agent with a bit of a hometown discount, and with all the right intentions to help elevate the team he grew up rooting for as a kid in New Rochelle. But a knee injury in his first training camp and subsequent other injuries limited his effectiveness, and helped bring about the organization’s earnest campaign of rebuilding — one that has proven to be quite fruitful and advanced in its timing.