Up until the acquisitions of Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba, it was evident the the New York Rangers were committed to ‘The Rebuild.’ However, with the aforementioned additions, the Rangers’s front office appears to be ending the rebuild and aiming for the playoffs.
Even with the recent buy-out of Kevin Shattenkirk, the Rangers are still in the midst of cap-purgatory. Marc Staal, Brendan Smith and Henrik Lundqvist all carry contracts that make fans groan and will be an even greater burden when Chris Kreider, Vladislav Namestnikov and Jesper Fast all become free agents next off-season.