Every time the New York Rangers “start a rebuild,” they tend to quickly pivot and get out of it. They don’t want to spend three or four years in the basement. This is New York. This is a team in the biggest city in the NHL. They want to be competitive as soon as possible.
But wait, this is an article about Mike Babcock signing in Edmonton. How are we starting with the Rangers? We’ll get to that in just a moment…
Remember the last time the Rangers signed the “letter?” Months later, they signed Artemi Panarin and got back to contention in no time. And now? James Dolan got a taste of success with the New York Knicks winning the NBA Championship. He won’t want one franchise with all eyes on it and the other stinking up Madison Square Garden.
What’s the easiest way to go back to contention this time around?
Let’s get back to Babcock. The Edmonton Oilers had a chance to sign a really good coach in Bruce Cassidy, and they decided to sign a problematic and, frankly, bad coach in Mike Babcock. Babcock won a championship with the Detroit Red Wings. That was in 2008. Henrik Lundqvist was 25 years old that season. Jaromir Jagr and Scott Gomez were both on the Rangers that season. That was FOREVER ago.
Mike Babcock's hiring in Edmonton could send Connor McDavid right to the Rangers
That said, we don’t think the Babcock hiring is going to work. That’s important because Connor McDavid has just two years left on his current deal paying him a deal of $12 million per season. He probably took a $5-7 million pay cut to give the Oilers a chance to be competitive. Yet, we don’t think this will lead where McDavid wants, and we think he asks for a trade.
While McDavid is captain Canada right now, after seeing how the city of New York got behind the Knicks, we think that’s his most likely next destination.
This is obviously bad news for the Devils. After spending years in flux, the Devils finally got the right management in place, and they hope to finally make the Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier primes a competitive one. Imagine having to go through both McDavid and the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Carolina Hurricanes, just to get to the Eastern Conference Finals?
It’s a scenario Devils fans shouldn’t want. Of course, to win a Cup, you have to beat the best, but as we saw with the Colorado Avalanche this season, the journey could cost you the destination.
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