ARLINGTON -- For his next trick, which is probably overdue, Jon Daniels will attempt to return the Rangers to the playoffs next season by fashioning a starting rotation out of thin air rather than with lavish budgets or internal prospects. And the magic word will not be "rebuild."
If Daniels pulls this off, he retires the Executive of the Year award.
And if he doesn't, "rebuild" is the dirty word, not the magic one.
Of course, Daniels didn't call his prospects any such thing in his annual end-of-season news conference Wednesday. They are, after all, "glass half-full" guys, as he confessed upfront, and without qualification.