The Recent York Rangers are heading towards one other rebuild this offseason, five years after accelerating their previous rebuild by signing Artemi Panarin to a long-term contract. Satirically, this recent rebuild was triggered by trading Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings, and Recent York hasn’t exactly overachieved since signing Panarin in 2021. Despite sending a warning letter to fans, it’s still hard to consider that the Rangers organization is fully committed to a full-blown teardown, especially with big-name players like Auston Matthews and Brady Tkachuk as potential trade targets.
Head coach Mike Sullivan may be very accustomed to each of those players, which could make it much more intriguing for Chris Drury to explore a possible trade. Sending out future assets to accumulate one among those captains from a Canadian team would give Rangers fans visions of the Panarin signing, which made them joyful on the time but left them in the identical position by the tip of the 2025-26 season. The Rangers forgoing a rebuild to attempt to be competitive within the 2026-27 season is unlikely and short-sighted, but not completely out of the realm of possibility, in accordance with The Athletic’s Vincent Mercogliano.
Auston Matthews as the brand new star on Broadway
Matthews’ time with the Toronto Maple Leafs looks to be getting short. Despite some individual success, the team’s newest captain has carried a losing stench with him since joining the organization. He was their first-round draft pick in 2016 with visions of ending their Stanley Cup drought, but despite some sustained regular season success, he has just two playoff series wins to point out for it.
This yr’s team bottoming out and missing the playoffs has Maple Leafs fans begging for change, and the organization is oddly entering into the direction of a brand new coach and management team that values analytics, something they’d with Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe but removed for Brad Treliving and Craig Berube. The franchise appears to be heading within the fallacious direction, and it’s unlikely that Matthews has the stomach to stay around and see the tip result.
An interesting wrinkle in all the drama and why Matthews looks like a very good slot in Recent York is that the one man who made him the captain and saw it end in a championship is Sullivan on the 2026 Winter Olympics. Despite the organization’s apparent desire to rebuild, it looks like a secure bet that Sullivan goes to push for them to get his guy if the Maple Leafs do put him available on the market.
Rangers’ consolation prize might be Brady Tkachuk
The long-held belief that has never been proven true is that if Matthews leaves Toronto, he wants to move to the western United States, closer to his home in Arizona. It is solely just speculation, but when the Leafs’ captain doesn’t wish to stay within the Eastern Conference, the Ottawa Senators’ captain, Tkachuk, could be another choice for Drury and the Rangers.
Tkachuk doesn’t bring the offensive upside of Matthews, but he does fit with the identity that the team is attempting to construct. He can also be a fellow gold medalist with Team USA and someone that Sullivan knows well. It would be interesting to see how quickly his fiery playstyle would turn him right into a fan favorite at Madison Square Garden.
The rumors of Tkachuk in search of a fresh start aren’t as strong as those concerning the Leafs and Matthews’ breakdown, but when Ottawa fails to make the playoffs, there might be changes coming to the team’s locker room culture. One easy strategy to change things could be to trade their captain.
The Recent York Rangers are heading towards one other rebuild this offseason, five years after accelerating their previous rebuild by signing Artemi Panarin to a long-term contract. Satirically, this recent rebuild was triggered by trading Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings, and Recent York hasn’t exactly overachieved since signing Panarin in 2021.