Rangers Offseason Goals Already Accomplished?

The New York Rangers’ dramatic fall from grace – going from the league’s best regular-season record to missing the playoffs entirely – left fans wondering what went wrong in 2024-25.

But they’re not sitting still.

The team’s first move was bringing in Mike Sullivan as head coach, replacing Peter Laviolette who had clearly lost control of the locker room. Sullivan’s known for adapting his system to his players rather than forcing everyone to play the same way – something that should be music to Rangers fans’ ears.

The defense was a mess last season. Like, really bad.

Sure, GM Chris Drury tried fixing things mid-season by bringing in Will Borgen, Urho Vaakanainen, and Carson Soucy. But those moves weren’t enough.

So Drury went big in free agency, landing Vlad Gavrikov from the Kings with a 7-year, $7 million per year deal. He’s exactly what they needed – a shutdown defender who can also chip in some points. More importantly, he’ll give star defenseman Adam Fox more freedom to work his magic.

Then there’s the K’Andre Miller situation.

The Rangers traded the talented but inconsistent defenseman to Carolina in a sign-and-trade deal. Miller got paid ($7.5 million per year), and the Rangers got two draft picks plus promising young defender Scott Morrow. Not bad at all.

Will Cuylle is staying put, though. The 23-year-old power forward signed for two years at $3.9 million annually after putting up career numbers:

• 20 goals
• 25 assists
• 45 points
• A whopping 301 hits (third in the NHL)

He’s looking like Chris Kreider 2.0 – big, fast, skilled, and not afraid to throw his weight around.

The Rangers are also making room for their young guns. Adam Edstrom, Brett Berard, and Brennan Othmann all showed promise last year. Even top prospect Gabe Perrault got a taste of NHL action, though he’s probably a year away from being ready.

So how’s the Rangers’ offseason checklist looking?

New coach? ✓
Better defense? ✓
Keep Cuylle? ✓

Looks like Drury’s off to a pretty good start.