Pulling your way out of perpetual mediocrity in the NHL is a long and torturous process, which is why the Rangers ought to be careful that they don’t step straight into it.
That might be the biggest longer-term danger for Chris Drury in navigating a retool for the club that has fallen flat on its face in each of the past two seasons and which will be judged in large part on making the playoffs this season.
Merely making it above the cutline can become a dangerous goal, should it impede longer-term progress, as the Rangers’ rivals across the East River learned to their detriment over the final few seasons of Lou Lamoriello’s reign as general manager.
The Rangers are not at that point yet, though, not after having traded for prospects Liam Greentree and Cole Beaudoin in the past six months while drafting Latvian defenseman Albert Smits, who ran his country’s power play at the Milan Olympics.
