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Mika Zibanejad, New York Rangers (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Rangers’ Management Benched the Wrong Players This Season

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Brian Abate | Last updated Apr 22, 2025 3:10 PM ET

Many factors played a role in the New York Rangers’ disappointing season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy and making a run to the Eastern Conference Final last season. There were multiple frustrating decisions from now-former head coach Peter Laviolette and general manager (GM) Chris Drury as they frequently opted to bench players who were reliable defensively rather than benching struggling veterans with larger contracts. Those decisions sent the wrong message to the team and played a role in their failure to make the playoffs.

The Rangers’ Defensive Struggles

The Rangers allowed 198 high-danger chances this season at five on five, the fourth most in the NHL and up from 165 high-danger chances allowed last season. Many of those chances happened because of mental mistakes which they never corrected.

The three players who repeatedly made poor decisions with and without the puck in the first half of the season were Mika Zibanejad, Alexis Lafreniere, and K’Andre Miller. All three made numerous giveaways leading to odd-man rushes, Miller frequently got beat because he stick-checked rather than taking the body, and Lafreniere often took the wrong man in the defensive zone and did not always backcheck.

Zibanejad was in the third season of an eight-season, $68 million contract, and Lafreniere had just signed a seven-season, $52.15 million contract extension. Miller has not signed a long-term extension but all three were established players who played big roles in the team’s success last season. However, all three could have been benched for a game for their mistakes.

While Zibanejad, Lafreniere, and Miller struggled, Kaapo Kakko was a bright spot for the Rangers defensively. Though he struggled to score, he was effective on the forecheck and created scoring chances for his linemates though he only averaged just over 13 minutes in ice time per game. Rather than benching the players whose defensive miscues cost them games, Laviolette opted to bench Kakko in a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 25. Their defensive woes continued and they lost 12 of their next 16 games.

Rangers Repeatedly Scratched Young Players

Last postseason, Laviolette opted to play veteran Erik Gustafsson rather than young blueliner Zac Jones even though Jones played very well late in the regular season. Once Gustafsson departed in the offseason, it cleared the path for Jones to become an everyday player but he once again ended up spending a lot of time as a healthy scratch.

Drury traded away defensemen Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba and acquired defensemen Will Borgen, Urho Vaakanainen, and Calvin de Haan. He then traded an early third-round pick for Carson Soucy just before the 2025 Trade Deadline which may have been unnecessary given that they already had seven defensemen. Jones and de Haan both ended up as healthy scratches despite playing fairly well when they were in the lineup.

Rookie winger Brett Berard provided a spark and scored two goals in a 9-2 win over the New York Islanders on April 10. He had six goals and four assists in 35 games but was scratched in the team’s final two games even though they were already eliminated from playoff contention.

Additionally, Drury signed Gabe Perreault, the Rangers’ top prospect, to an entry-level contract with just a few weeks left in the season which burned a season off of his contract. However, after just three games, Laviolette made him a healthy scratch for three consecutive games. It was yet another confusing move to end a season that already had plenty of questionable decisions.

New Head Coach Needs to Hold All Players Accountable

The Rangers fired Laviolette on April 19 while Drury remains their GM. Though they have a lot of veterans on the roster, their new head coach will have to trust some of their prospects and let them play a bigger role. More importantly, all players need to be held accountable, including veterans on big contracts.

The Rangers sent the wrong message by allowing the same players to make bad defensive mistakes game after game and paid for it this season.