It’s possible that the 2024-25 Rangers haven’t quite bottomed out, but it feels like they’re close. Barring an unprecedented turnaround, a painful rebuild looms

On 25 November, the New York Rangers had a 12-6-1 record. With 25 points, the Rangers sat in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, holding a playoff wildcard place. The team had just completed a swing through the Pacific Division, where they won against San Jose and Seattle before dropping two in a row to Calgary and Edmonton. As the Rangers headed back to New York City from their western road trip, there were rumblings of trouble, for at some point during that week, Rangers general manager Chris Drury had sent a memo to all NHL teams in which he said he was open to a trade to shake up his roster. And he made clear that the changes could be big. The two names he floated to the other teams were Jacob Trouba, the team’s captain, and Chris Kreider, a Ranger since 2011.

We’ll never know whether the Rangers were always at that point on the cusp of a terrible month, or if it was the memo that spun the team into a downward spiral. The vibes have certainly been off ever since. But it’s also worth noting that, even at the time, while the team’s overall record was a winning one, most agreed that the Rangers didn’t look like the team that had come within just two wins of the Stanley Cup final a few months prior. Their winning record concealed the fact that many of those victories had come against weak teams. And one loss – a 6-1 drubbing from the lowly Buffalo Sabres in early November – saw the team’s all-star goaltender, Igor Shesterkin, give up five goals on just 12 shots. Behind the scenes, there were hints of things amiss, including an awkward episode in the offseason, when the team gave forward Barclay Goodrow only 15 minutes’ warning before making him available for a trade.