New York Rangers

Patrick Kane still hasn't made a decision regarding his future with the Chicago Blackhawks, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't have his eyes on the New York Rangers before they acquired Vladimir Tarasenko on Thursday.

"It's not like the happiest I've been to hear about a trade," Kane told reporters when asked about the Tarasenko deal. "I think the Rangers are a team that you definitely pay attention to and definitely are intrigued by, for obvious reasons."

Kane also admitted that the Rangers were one of the teams on his radar if he were to request a trade from the Blackhawks. However, the Tarasenko deal essentially eliminates New York as a possible landing spot for the veteran winger.

"If things were going to happen, that was a team I was definitely looking at," Kane said. "It seems like they kind of filled their void and went ahead and made a deal, so it is what it is."

The St. Louis Blues traded Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola to the Rangers on Thursday in exchange for Sammy Blais, prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.

Tarasenko, who spent the first 11 seasons of his career in St. Louis, requested a trade from the franchise in July 2021. He was reportedly upset with how the Blues handled his multiple shoulder surgeries, which fractured his relationship with the team.

The Blues went on to leave Tarasenko unprotected in the Seattle expansion draft that same month, though he went unclaimed by the Kraken, which instead selected defenseman Vince Dunn.

With Tarasenko in the final year of an eight-year, $60 million contract, there was always a possibility for him to be moved ahead of the NHL's March 3 trade deadline.

Like Tarasenko, Kane is also in the final year of an eight-year, $84 million contract and is a candidate to be moved ahead of the deadline with the Blackhawks gearing up to enter a full-scale rebuild.

Chicago indicated it would be entering a rebuilding period during the 2022 NHL draft when it traded Alex DeBrincat to the Ottawa Senators and Kirby Dach to the Montreal Canadiens for draft picks.

Kane had long been linked to the Rangers. However, New York opted to acquire Tarasenko over Kane and San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier because it felt the asking prices for both players were too high, per ESPN's Emily Kaplan.

The Rangers also weren't keen on waiting for Kane to make a decision about his future, and they expressed concerns over his hip injury, Kaplan added.

The Athletic's Arthur Staple also wrote in January that it "seems like the whole league knows now that Kane needs hip surgery" and that "if he doesn't shut down the season and get the surgery soon to be ready for free agency and 2023-24, he's going to be damaged goods."

Before the start of the 2021-22 season, Kane confirmed he had been dealing with a nagging, undisclosed injury since before the start of the 2020 playoffs in the Edmonton bubble. He added that he was hoping to get the issue fixed before the 2021-22 campaign began, but that didn't happen.

Kane went on to play 78 games last season and only missed time because of the NHL's COVID-19 health and safety protocols. This season, his injury appeared to resurface in a January matchup against the Sharks, and he later found himself on injured reserve.

Since returning to the Chicago lineup on Jan. 14, Kane hasn't missed any time, but it's clear that his injury is still an issue. That said, he thinks his hip ailment has been overblown.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm not sure what the story is to be honest with you, but I feel better than I did last year," Kane told reporters Thursday. "It's just one of those things that maybe the story leaks out and it piles up a little bit."

If Kane decides he wants a trade before the March 3 deadline, he'll more than likely have numerous suitors despite the ailment. However, he has a full no-trade clause, which means he'll have a say in where he ends up.

Kane would be a valuable addition to any contending team, especially considering he's a three-time Stanley Cup winner. Through 46 games this season, he has notched nine goals and 26 assists for 35 points.

The 34-year-old's situation is going to continue to be a hot topic as we get closer to the deadline, but it's safe to say we can cross the Rangers off the list of possible landing spots.

There were two near-certainties for the New York Rangers prior to the arrival of the March 3 NHL trade deadline: They were going to add a top-six right-wing, and they were going to add a third-pairing left defenseman.

General manager Chris Drury wasted no time getting both with one stroke.

On Thursday, the Rangers acquired star winger Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a conditional 2023 first-round pick, depth winger Sammy Blais, minor league fodder Hunter Skinner and a 2024 fourth-round pick that will become a third if the Rangers make the playoffs.

It's a big move for a team that hopes to make a deep postseason run for the second consecutive season. Inarguably, they will forge ahead with a significantly better roster than the one with which they returned from the All-Star break.

Let's break down what this trade means for the Rangers.

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Tarasenko

The Rangers entered the season with questions at right wing. At the halfway point, none had been answered. Prospect Vitali Kravtsov has not found his game, Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey belong in the bottom six.

Kaapo Kakko has been excellent in driving possession and providing offense, but the Rangers weren't going to win a Stanley Cup with a 40-point type of winger alone at the top of the depth chart.

In Tarasenko, the Rangers are getting a top-six scoring wing. Following two seasons torpedoed by shoulder injuries, the Russian returned to form last year, potting 34 goals and adding 48 assists over 75 games.

He hasn't quite matched that this season, with 10 goals in 38 games, but a 63-point pace over 82 games is still first-line quality.

There is plenty of reason to believe the best is yet to come. His 9.7 percent shooting percentage is well below his prior career average of 12.7. More importantly, the Blues are a mess. Per Evolving Hockey, the team ranks 26th in the league by expected goals for.

There is a reason the Blues began the liquidation process this soon.

The Rangers are a superior offensive team and whatever deficiencies existed will be mitigated with his presence. If Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox are feeding him in shooting positions? Chances are he's going to collect goals.

More to that point, the Rangers' power play—the team's biggest reason for success last season aside from goaltender Igor Shesterkin—has taken a step back. This is for a number of reasons, but a big one is that other teams have seen enough to know how to best defend the Blueshirts' top unit.

The go-to has been setting up Zibanejad for the one-timer above the left circle. It still works, but opposing teams are countering by shading toward Zibanejad's side.

Teams pre-scouting the Rangers have figured out they should shade to Zibanejad's side because Panarin won't take the space and shoot. You have to throw a few change-ups to keep the batter honest on your fastball. pic.twitter.com/szWtj3M1IJ

— Adam Herman (@AdamZHerman) March 25, 2022

Fox and Panarin are hardly slouches when it comes to shooting the puck, but they both display a level of discomfort at being the one to put the puck on net. Certainly, neither has elite shooting ability from distance. The opposition sees giving them space in order to close down on Zibanejad as the lesser of evils.

It particularly gives room to Panarin, who plays above the right circle, and his right-handed shot is not an effective threat. As Zibanejad shows, an off-handed player is best above each circle because it allows him (or her) to receive passes across the body for a quick release.

Tarasenko, a left-handed shot, seamlessly fits that role.

Head coach Gerard Gallant has to figure out the new power-play alignment, but if he moves Tarasenko to that right circle, then he'll be installing the credible shooting threat the Rangers need on that side. Opposing penalty kills will no longer be able to cheat toward Zibanejad.

Panarin and Tarasenko are close friends, and there is good reason to believe they'll be a great match on the ice. Panarin prefers to be the playmaker, and Tarasenko loves to shoot. Aside from joining a better team, the four-time All-Star could be reinvigorated by a new environment.

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Mikkola

Tarasenko will deservedly get all of the headlines, but with Mikkola, Drury filled, pound-for-pound, the team's biggest deficiency.

Ryan Lindgren and K'Andre Miller form a robust left side of the Rangers' top pairings. Finding someone to round out the defense has been a disaster. Prospect Zac Jones started the season with the job but struggled and was sent down in early December.

Libor Hájek, acquired as a prospect from Tampa Bay in 2018, continued to prove he is not an NHL defenseman in his 16 games. The Rangers finally waived him Thursday after five seasons in which he failed to lock down a roster spot. Veteran Ben Harpur cannot handle the puck or skate well enough. He is not NHL-caliber.

Braden Schneider, 21, has done a remarkable job on the right side given the incompetence he has had to deal with all season.

Mikkola won't stand out on a night-by-night basis, as his game is vanilla. The 6'4" defenseman is a non-factor offensively. What he does bring, though, is a solid shutdown skill set. He rubs players out of possession along the walls. He throws big hits but doesn't run out of position to do so.

In fact, he needs little momentum to toss puck-carriers to the ice. The Finn snuffs out puck-carriers along the perimeter and breaks play to a halt so a teammate can retrieve the now loose puck.

Mikkola has struggled this season, but, as noted, the Blues are in disarray. Even by this year's subpar standards, Mikkola has played like a conventional NHL sixth defenseman, and in years past his defensive-minded game was well above the NHL average.

If he can return to that form, then he'll be a tremendous asset on the third pairing. At the bare minimum, he's not going to be the guy who blows it for the team. That's really all that Gallant needs on that third-pairing spot next to Schneider.

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Analyzing the Cost

The Rangers had both their own and Dallas' first-round pick in 2023. St. Louis will receive whichever one is later in the draft, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen. Based on the trajectories of both teams, the pick should fall somewhere in the range of No. 25 to No. 32. The Rangers also included a 2024 third-round pick.

The Rangers acquired Blais from the Blues in 2021 as part of a return for Pavel Buchnevich. It was a horrible trade at the time, and it looks even worse in hindsight.

Blais did not score a single goal in 54 games with the team. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Hunter Skinner is an ECHL defenseman who was included presumably because the Rangers wished to remain at 49 contracts and safely under the 50-contract limit that teams are beholden to.

For the sake of simplicity, let's isolate the trade into components. Mikkola for the 2024 third-round pick is fair value.

That leaves the first-round pick for Tarasenko. Among recent trade-deadline rentals who cost a first-round pick plus more are Ben Chiarot (2022), Nick Foligno (2021), David Savard (2021), Brandon Montour (2019), and Tomas Tatar (2018). None of these players measure up to Tarasenko.

To acquire a player of his caliber, the Rangers would have usually needed to part with a first-rounder plus a prospect or another early pick. For certain, Tarasenko's full no-trade clause hamstrung Blues GM Doug Armstrong, but that's not Drury's problem. The Rangers landed Tarasenko at a measurably lower cost than what a player of his caliber is typically worth at the trade deadline.

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Grading the Trade

Both Tarasenko and Mikkola fit the Rangers' needs like gloves.

Tarasenko was the Rangers' best option. San Jose's Timo Meier is the best player on the market, but the bidding war for him will be fierce. He would have also forced some tough salary-cap decisions beyond this season. Patrick Kane has not played well this season and is dealing with a hip injury.

Beyond those two, the market for wingers is putrid. Barring a surprise player on the market, the remaining options at right wing would have been a rehabilitation project in Brock Boeser, who also has a $6.65 million cap hit through 2025. After them, it's Jesse Puljujärvi and Ivan Barbashev, who are checking third-liners.

The Rangers also made intangible acquisitions via this trade: time and comfort. The days leading up to the deadline are pure chaos. The market can move at any moment. GMs who make decisions under immense pressure will often overpay for a player or lose out on their targets. Some team is going to end up empty-handed.

That team won't be the Rangers. Management can now approach March 3 knowing that most of its major business is done.

What's more, the Rangers will play 11 games between the time of the trade and the deadline. That's 11 games in which Tarasenko and Mikkola can help them win. It's also extra time for the duo to become acclimated and for the coaching staff to toy around and find the right combinations.

The Rangers found the best player on the market for their needs by a measure of cost-benefit analysis; Tarasenko is certain to make the team a lot better without the necessity of sacrificing heavy assets. A third-round pick for Mikkola is standard value, and far worse defensemen will go for a similar price in the next few weeks.

Both Tarasenko and Mikkola are rentals. If the Rangers exit the playoffs early, then it will be all for nothing. But the only way to avoid risk at the trade deadline is by doing nothing at all; something the Rangers could not afford given the makeup of the roster and short-term aspirations.

This is some smooth business by Drury.

Rangers Grade: A

A saga spanning almost two years since Vladimir Tarasenko first requested a trade has officially ended: The 31-year-old winger, who has spent his entire 11-year NHL career with the Blues, is headed to the Rangers.

The Blues get their former draft pick, Sammy Blais, defensive prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick in the deal. In return, New York gets Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola. St. Louis will retain 50 percent of impending unrestricted free agent Tarasenko's $7.5 million cap hit, per CapFriendly.

Re. Tarasenko/Mikkola trade to NYR -

The conditional 1st round pick going to STL will be the later of the 2 that NYR has now (its own and DAL pick from Lundkvist trade). The 2024 4th round pick becomes a third rounder if/when the Rangers make the playoffs this season.

— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) February 9, 2023

Tarasenko's built a career off his sniping shot, so there was a healthy level of concern around his future when he had to get three surgeries on his left shoulder in 28 months, with the last coming in late 2020. But at the time, experts told The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford that Tarasenko "no doubt" would be "100 percent" ready for the upcoming season.

He followed that statement with a career-high 82 points in 75 games and his sixth 30-plus-goal season in 2021-22.

His 2022-23 has been a bit derailed because of an unrelated hand injury, but let's be honest: The 23-25-3 Blues are struggling. Tarasenko's still got 10 goals and 29 points in 38 games, and his underlying metrics are sound.

Vladimir Tarasenko, traded to NYR, is a top six sniper. Still very dangerous off the rush in particular. His production at 5v5 has fallen off this season after a big jump last year, but he's still a good chance creator. #NYR pic.twitter.com/O7uqO69whh

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) February 9, 2023

The gut reaction: I loved this for the Rangers when the news first broke, but then I saw the 50 percent salary retention and loved it even more. At the same time, the Tarasenko dilemma had dragged on for a while on the Blues' end and I respect the decision to salvage a first-rounder instead of letting him walk.

I wonder if the clubs have remained friendly since the Rangers traded Pavel Buchnevich to the Blues for Blais and a second-round pick in July 2021. Buchnevich has been a point-per-game player in St. Louis, so let's consider the favor returned in the Tarasenko sweepstakes.

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Winners: The Rangers

New York has been such an exciting team to watch, as the "kids," such as Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafrenière, have grown into their talent, but with powerhouse Igor Shesterkin in net and All-Stars Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox performing at a high level, the rebuild is ahead of schedule.

Why not capitalize on the early arrival to the party with the addition of a veteran talent who has Stanley Cup experience and can still put the puck in the net?

I keep going back to the importance of the two first-round picks in general manager Chris Drury's pocket. It's much easier to feel good about this deal when there's another high-end prospect just waiting to be selected.

Then you look at the other options on the table—ESPN's Emily Kaplan reports the Rangers had concern over Patrick Kane's hip. Kane's got a higher cap hit ($10.5 million), a steeper decline and perhaps more eyes on him at the moment. With the Blues eating half of Tarasenko's salary, the positional fit and the foresight allowing the Rangers to keep a first-round draft pick, I really like this for them.

And we haven't even discussed Mikkola yet. If there's one thing I've learned from covering the NHL playoffs, it's that you can never have enough depth defensemen.

Injuries are inevitable when it comes to the guys who play the most minutes per night and block the most shots, and these are also the guys expected to kill every penalty when the best in the league are giving it their all during those playoff power plays.

The skill and finesse of Fox and K'Andre Miller are a huge part of the Rangers' ahead-of-schedule success, but they need some help with pure defense if they are to truly do their thing, and insurance on the back end is never a bad thing.

The 6'4" Mikkola fits in the budget with his $1.9 million cap hit (which is probably a bit too expensive, but oh well). He was averaging 16:41 of ice time with St. Louis this season, was third on the team in blocked shots with 68 and had the most short-handed time on ice on the Blues.

Now, the Blues' penalty kill has been atrocious, so don't expect Mikkola to jump on the Rangers and change the complexion of the defense in some profound way. But I like him in a third-pairing role, and he's a great insurance option to have around—especially as a toss-in from a larger deal.

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Losers: The Blues

I'm hesitant to start chanting "loser" at Blues GM Doug Armstrong with an L on my forehead—this isn't a bad or head-scratching decision. I'll even give the front office props for salvaging multiple picks—including a first-rounder—and a fringe NHLer whom they know well.

I'll also say it's hard to think of a team that has been more confusing the past few seasons than the Blues. A team like the Predators is so mediocre that you get so frustrated and almost want them to give it up and start tanking.

The Blues can look like the best team in the world for stretches and then lose eight straight games out of nowhere. From an asset standpoint, I understand wanting to hold on to your franchise player until knowing that making the playoffs isn't likely.

When you add the uncertainty that comes with the shoulder surgeries, you can understand why trading Tarasenko has taken so long since his initial request.

When it comes down to who "won" the trade, though, I really like it for the Rangers, and I don't hate it for the Blues. But I do wonder what might've been had they struck while the iron was a tad hotter.

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The Price(s) Just Changed on Ryan O'Reilly, Timo Meier and Patrick Kane

Consider the Blues team "won't they" on this year's "will they-won't they" roller coaster. This means a team looking for a veteran center like Ryan O'Reilly could now see him as an option. Who wouldn't want a Selke and Conn Smythe Award winner for a Cup run?

This also means the price just increased for Sharks winger Timo Meier, who notched his 30th goal of the year on Tuesday.

A whole lot of buyers for Timo Meier 🦈 pic.twitter.com/pXjSwOVAGK

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 9, 2023

Meier has been linked to the Devils, Hurricanes, Rangers (can probably cross them off the list!) and Golden Knights as early as Thursday morning, per ESPN's Kevin Weekes. GMs have been on it early this year with Bo Horvat and now Tarasenko already off the board ahead of the March 3 deadline, so bidders better get on that one.

Now we've arrived at Kane, and the Rangers' concern about his hip injury makes me wonder if any team will bite. On one hand, it's Kane, and Kane at 70 percent could still have some special moments.

On another hand, he's had few of those moments this season and you can tell he's struggling a bit. It seems like the Chicago Blackhawks might have to lower their price—reportedly a first-round pick, per The Athletic's Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus—if they really want to ship him out.

The St. Louis Blues have decided to move on from star winger Vladimir Tarasenko, sending him to the New York Rangers ahead of next month's trade deadline.

OFFICIAL: #NYR have acquired F Vladimir Tarasenko and D Niko Mikkola in exchange for a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Sammy Blais and Hunter Skinner.

Full details ⤵️https://t.co/HF8rg4uq40

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 9, 2023

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff first reported the deal.

Tarasenko has often been the subject of trade rumors in recent years, but the Blues kept holding on to him while they were in Stanley Cup contention.

The Blues aren't out of playoff contention, as they trail the final playoff spot in the Western Conference by nine games, but they have been disappointing this season with a 23-25-3 record.

Since Tarasenko is a free agent at the end of the season and the Blues don't have the makings of a Stanley Cup threat, it made sense to move him rather than losing him for nothing during the offseason.

Injuries have hindered Tarasenko over the past few seasons. The Russian star was limited to 10 games in 2019-20 because of a shoulder injury that required surgery. He only played in 24 games in 2020-21, finishing with 14 points and a career-worst minus-seven rating.

Tarasenko did return to prominence last season, however, recording 34 goals and 48 assists for 82 points in 75 games. Injuries have cropped up again this season, limiting him to 38 games, but he has been productive when healthy.

With 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points, Tarasenko was named to the All-Star Game, but he does have a minus-18 rating, which would be the worst of his career.

The 31-year-old was one of the Blues' best offensive weapons. He led the team in goals and points and was a second-team All-Star for successive seasons in 2015 and 2016.

Tarasenko finished second on the Blues in points scored (68) in 2018-19 and led the team in both goals and points last season.

With Tarasenko heading to the Big Apple, the Blues will be forced to lean more heavily on the likes of Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas, Pavel Buchnevich and Brayden Schenn for offensive production.

Meanwhile, on the heels of reaching the Eastern Conference Final last season, the Rangers are adding a talented offensive player to go along with Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Co.

Madison Square Garden Sports is willing to sell minority shares in the New York Rangers and New York Knicks franchises, president David Hopkinson said Tuesday.

MSG Sports has no plans to sell a controlling share of either franchise. Despite calls from a large number of fans to sell, owner James Dolan has said he plans to keep controlling interests.

"I have no plans whatsoever to sell at this point. I'm not retiring anytime soon. It's a family-controlled asset, so someone in the family will eventually own it," Dolan said on WFAN last month.

Dolan has held primary control of the Knicks and Rangers since taking over the sports assets owned by the company then known as Cablevision in 1999. While the Rangers have had intermittent success during Dolan's tenure, the Knicks have been one of the NBA's worst franchises for nearly a quarter-century.

New York has reached the playoffs just seven times since the 1999-2000 season and has gotten past the second round twice. Dolan's tenure has been mired with controversies both on and off the floor, including multiple run-ins with fans heckling him to sell the team.

Offloading a small percentage of the Knicks and Rangers is likely more of a financial liquidity move than a precursor to a sale. The Knicks are valued at $6.1 billion by Forbes, while the Rangers come in at $2.2 billion.

New York Knicks and New York Rangers owner James Dolan said Friday that he has no intention of selling either team.

"I have no plans whatsoever to sell at this point," Dolan said when asked if he would sell if the right offer came along, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "I'm not retiring anytime soon. It's a family-controlled asset, so someone in the family will own it."

Dolan, executive chairman and CEO of Madison Square Garden Sports and Madison Square Garden Entertainment, has been in charge of the NBA and NHL franchises since the 1990s.

The Knicks haven't won an NBA title since 1973 and haven't reached the NBA Finals since 1999 when they fell to the San Antonio Spurs in five games. The Rangers, on the other hand, have found more success, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, but they haven't won a title since 1994.

Both teams also don't appear to be legitimate title contenders this year, though the Rangers have a better chance. The Knicks sit seventh in the NBA's Eastern Conference with a 27-23 record, and the Rangers sit third in the NHL's Metropolitan Division with a 26-14-8 record.

Rumors surfaced over the summer regarding Dolan exploring a sale of the teams, but MSG quickly rebuffed those reports with a statement saying there were no plans to sell either team.

Amid his ongoing attempts to ban attorneys whose firms are involved in lawsuits against him from attending events by using facial recognition technology at Madison Square Garden, James Dolan is also feuding with the New York State Liquor Authority.

In an interview with Good Day New York, Dolan threatened to halt liquor sales at an upcoming New York Rangers game to send a message to the New York State Liquor Authority.

James Dolan said he might shut down liquor sales at MSG for a Knicks or Rangers game, to prove a point to NY State Liquor Authority, the agency that controls NY liquor licenses. Dolan put up a photo of agency CEO with email and phone number and told people to reach out to him. pic.twitter.com/saJDYTeEzy

— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) January 26, 2023

Dolan's tirade is in response to the agency threatening disciplinary action in response to the facial recognition fiasco.

Per Justin Birnbaum of Forbes, the New York State Liquor Authority issued an advisory letter to Madison Square Garden last month that stated, "groups or individuals cannot be excluded on the basis of criteria that are not directly related to the your duties under your [liquor] license."

The letter noted the state agency could take "disciplinary action" on MSG's liquor license if it finds any violations have occurred.

"We are confident that our policy is in compliance with all applicable laws including the New York State Liquor Authority," a spokesperson for MSG told Birnbaum.

Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick called Dolan's use of the technology to ban his legal opponents from attending events at MSG "the stupidest thing I've ever read" during a Zoom hearing Nov. 2.

Alexis Majano, a Long Island-based attorney who wasn't allowed to attend a Nov. 5 game between the Knicks and Boston Celtics after getting flagged by the technology, told Jeanette Settembre of the New York Post he worked for a law firm that filed suit on behalf of a fan who fell from a skybox at MSG during a Billy Joel concert.

"He [an MSG employee] handed me a list of 20 to 30 pages of random names and firms. He asked me … 'Do you work for Sahn Ward? Are you an attorney?' I said yes," Majano said. "They explained very briefly: Any firms with litigation against MSG are banned. I was shocked."

Majano, who noted he wasn't directly involved in the lawsuit, said the employee told him he was identified through facial recognition technology.

"I was fairly certain they were right because I didn't show ID—the tickets didn't have my name on them," he said.

Dolan said on Good Day New York he's not concerned fans won't show up if there aren't any liquor sales because "we don't make all our money on alcohol."

The New York Rangers had every reason for optimism heading into the 2022-23 NHL season. They were coming off a run to the Eastern Conference Final, took a massive step forward in their rebuild, and boast a roster that has at least one elite player at forward, defense, and in net.

But now that we are a quarter of the way through the season the Rangers have not yet looked like the Stanley Cup contender they were supposed to be, and it might be time to start wondering if it is panic time. Not only because the Rangers are demonstrating some of the same flaws that held them back at times a year ago, but also because the rest of the Eastern Conference might cause some problems for them in their playoff pursuit.

The Rangers enter play on Friday just barely on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and even though there is still a lot of hockey to be played this is not a position that anybody expected them to be in at any point in the season. While the Rangers seem to have stagnated in the first quarter, teams like the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and Detroit Red Wings have all taken big leaps forward. That makes an already top-heavy Eastern Conference that much tougher.

The Islanders have their own superstar goalie in Ilya Sorokin (who is playing at an absurd level) and have benefitted from a start that was not interrupted by a massive road trip and COVID complications like last year.

The Devils have suddenly transformed into an absolute machine and have been one of the league's best teams through the first two months, and have put themselves into a position where even if they regress in the second half they have a built-in cushion to soften the blow.

And even the Red Wings are starting to look like a potential playoff team after a big offseason. Add in the usual suspects at the top like Boston, Tampa Bay, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Carolina, as well as a Florida team that is still trying to find its way, and suddenly you have 10 viable playoff teams in the Eastern Conference. Somebody is going to miss out.

Last year's Eastern Conference playoff race was unique in the sense that there was a pretty definitive gap between the eight playoff teams and the non-playoff teams. The closest non-playoff team finished 16 points out of a playoff spot, while only one other was within even 25 points of a playoff spot. From December on there was virtually no playoff race and the teams at the top had relatively little pressure.

That is not going to be the case this season, and the later into the season it gets, the more difficult it becomes to make up points.

But it's not just the fact there are so many more good teams in the Eastern Conference this season that has to be concerning for the Rangers.

It's that they still have some very concerning flaws of their own.

For starters, they do not generate anywhere near enough offense during 5-on-5 play. A lot of the Rangers' offensive success last year was generated by its power play. And while that can still be very impactful, you do not want to have to rely on that to carry all of your offense.

When it came to 5-on-5 goal scoring, the Rangers averaged just 2.35 goals per 60 minutes (via Natural Stat Trick) a year ago, a mark that placed them 21st in the NHL and 14th among the 16 playoff teams (ahead of only Los Angeles and Dallas). For much of the season, they had major depth issues with their bottom-six forwards, and it was not until they added Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp, and Tyler Motte at the trade deadline that they started to get more dangerous at even strength.

A sometimes overlooked storyline this offseason was that Vatrano, Copp, and Ryan Strome (last year's No. 2 center) all left in free agency, while only Vincent Trocheck was brought in to replace them.

That was a lot of scoring depth going out the door. The Rangers were banking on Trocheck being an upgrade over Strome, and their collection of young forwards (Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil, Vitali Kravtsov) all taking steps forward and playing like the top picks that they were.

While Trocheck has been fine, he has not scored at the same pace that Strome did, while the young players are not really progressing with their production. If players like Lafreniere and Kakko do not become stars, it will really hold back the Rangers' ability to reach the next level.

Entering play on Friday the Rangers are still only 19th in the league (again via Natural Stat Trick) in terms of 5-on-5 goals per 60 minutes. That is not where they want to be.

They do have around $2 million in salary cap space to play with and could use another significant tweak at the deadline like last year.

The other issue for the Rangers is that starting goalie Igor Shesterkin has been human this season, instead of unbeatable. Shesterkin's 2021-22 season was one of the best individual goaltending seasons in recent memory and helped mask an awful lot of Rangers' flaws, both offensively (allowing them to win low-scoring games) and defensively (covering up their shortcomings in their own end). As he went, the Rangers went.

As good as Shesterkin is, it was always going to be unrealistic to expect him to maintain a .935 save percentage over a full season every year. The Rangers had to be ready for regression there and have enough support to make up for that. It has not really happened.

Shesterkin can be better, and he very well might. But there is no guarantee he is as dominant as he was a year in what was a special year. If he is not, and if the Rangers do not get more even-strength scoring, they could suddenly find themselves in a real—and unexpected—scramble for a playoff spot in a dramatically improved Eastern Conference.