If history is any indication, the Rangers organization will not cure what ails them.
Scott Gomez was a brutal disappointment last season. The disappointment derived from his performance is the result of giving a second or third-line quality center a first-line salary and first-line responsibilities. As they’ve done many times before, the Rangers overpaid for a player they didn’t need for the position in which they decided to put him.
The Rangers are a shambolic mess of bad management. They are a so-called marquee franchise but they repeatedly put on display a product with no depth and no real promise of success, whether the immediate or sustainable kind. They have no superstar skater. Not one player exceeded 30 goals last season. The only foundational elements of the club are Blair Betts, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Fred Sjostrom and, of course, Henrik Lundqvist.
Every other player is chaff; they are expendable and could be replaced, by a more savvy General Manager than Glen Sather has proven himself to be, with greater and more economical talent. The one exception might be Colton Orr who, though not irreplaceable, is definitely essential as the sole deterrent on a team of players who are laughably soft. Should another enforcer of greater skill and value become available, Orr will have outlived his underutilized usefulness.
With Glen Sather still running the operation, is there really any hope for the change in policy the Rangers so desperately need? It is doubtful the fans will be holding their collective breath.
If only the organization had a GM capable of assembling a well-balanced team that could truly contend in the NHL. Sadly, it looks like the fans will have to wait either for the owner to come to his senses or for Sather to expire, whichever comes first.