DALLAS — It has been four decades since the Rangers built their team primarily through the draft — the 1970s, when homegrown Steve Vickers, Pat Hickey, Dave Maloney, Ron Greschner, Don Murdoch, Dave Farrish, Mike McEwen, Lucien DeBlois, Ron Duguay, Mario Marois and Don Maloney formed the foundation of the club that went to the 1979 Stanley Cup finals.
Add to that the availability of prime-time players such as Erik Karlsson and Artemi Panarin, who would look mighty good in Broadway Blue, and skepticism of the current administration’s commitment to rebuilding might be somewhat understandable.
But the bills associated with the last half-decade of going all in have come due, and no one who matters within the organization believes otherwise.