VANCOUVER — The trade deadline trauma behind them, the Rest of the Rangers (ROR) vow they are ready to abandon the fetal position into which they had curled following the Jan. 26 article in The Post presaging the trade-deadline teardown that was confirmed on Feb. 8 via management’s public decree.
“It’s been three or four weeks dealing with the fact this was going to happen, which made it very tough to have the mindset you need to be able to play,” Henrik Lundqvist said following Tuesday’s practice. “It has been very tough. You almost can’t believe it, that so many players you’d been with for so long and that you’d had gone through so much, aren’t here anymore.
“It’s been a little challenging these last four weeks, but now that it’s done, it feels like we have a new team. We need to regroup a little bit. It’s a new start. We need to make the most of it.”
The Rangers enter Wednesday’s match against the Canucks 0-6-1 in their past seven, 2-10-1 since the All-Star break and 5-16-1 since Jan. 7. From an organizational standpoint, the more losses the better over the final 19 games to enhance the club’s draft position (currently seventh overall), but that is not going to reach into the room.
“We all want to win hockey games,” Marc Staal said. “We’re going to focus on doing that, supporting one another and helping each other out.
“These last few weeks we’ve all had an uneasy feeling, but now that the deadline has passed, we’ll come together and see where it goes from here.”
Ryan McDonagh’s exit had been foreshadowed for weeks. Yet the trade of the captain still stunned Staal.
“Rumors are rumors,” No. 18 said. “But when it happens, it’s surprising for sure. It’s pretty shocking.”
Lundqvist, who carried the Rangers through November, December and January, is 0-4-1/.870/4.33 in his past five starts and 2-8-1/.884/4.07 since the break. When he finally buckled, the Blueshirts burned and crashed.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this,” said Lundqvist — who has never in his 17-year professional career, including four seasons in Sweden, played a game in which his team had been eliminated from playoff contention. “But I understand; I understand what needed to be done.
“Now these final 19 games are important. Everything is restarted. It’s important that we help and support the new guys who are here to get off to good NHL starts. We owe it to ourselves to make the most out of the rest of this season.”
Jesper Fast, now the fifth senior Ranger in terms of continuous service behind Lundqvist, Staal, Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider, talked about “turning the page.”
“Seeing Mac go was really sad for me,” said Fast, who will continue to serve as an alternate captain in the wake of the departures of lettermen McDonagh and Rick Nash. “I looked up to him every day. He’s a great guy to set an example of how to be a professional.
“But this is part of the business. The last couple of weeks have been very difficult and pretty emotional. I’ve never been a part of anything like this and neither have most of us on this team. Now, though, we have our team. We can try and build something here.”
There will be more upheaval following the season. The coaching staff may change. There almost certainly will be more deals around the draft.
“I’m not looking further than this season,” Lundqvist said. “I’m not looking toward the summer. We have 19 games left. That’s what I’m focusing on, to have the right mindset and do my best to help this team win.”