{"id":141414,"date":"2026-01-20T11:18:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/141414\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T11:18:43","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T11:18:43","slug":"ryan-strome-on-rebuilds-drury-angst-and-more-rangers-thoughts-after-loss-to-ducks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/141414\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Strome on rebuilds; Drury angst and more Rangers thoughts after loss to Ducks"},"content":{"rendered":"

ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 The Ducks are on their way out of a rebuild. The Rangers are heading into one (or retool,<\/a>\u00a0if you prefer Chris Drury\u2019s verbage).<\/p>\n

Anaheim forward Ryan Strome has familiarity with both scenarios. The Rangers \u2014 who lost 5-3 to the Ducks on Monday \u2014 traded for him in November 2018, less than a year after the letter then-president Glen Sather and then-general manager Jeff Gorton wrote to New York fans announcing a rebuild. Strome saw the Rangers emerge on the other side and was with the club through the 2021-22 season in which it reached the Eastern Conference final. Since then, he\u2019s been with the Ducks, who would be the second wild card in the West if the season ended today.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old Strome saw Rangers\u2019 president Chris Drury\u2019s letter to fans Friday, which said the team was entering a \u201cretool\u201d period, and he heard the news New York won\u2019t offer pending unrestricted free agent Artemi Panarin<\/a> a contract extension. Panarin is now the top trade candidate heading into the March deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sends a little bit of a shockwave through the league when guys like Panarin are going to be available,\u201d Strome said. \u201cEspecially with the free agents this year, it\u2019s not that deep of a class. I\u2019m sure people are going to be lined up to get a talent like him. \u2026 When stuff like that happens around the league everyone\u2019s kind of on notice a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strome felt that when he was a part of the most recent Rangers\u2019 rebuild, the team infused a mix of young and hungry players into the roster. Everyone, he said, had something to play for, even if the front office\u2019s primary focus wasn\u2019t optimizing the club\u2019s short-term chances.<\/p>\n

Given his experience, he believes the Rangers\u2019 current situation could give new players added opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re going to strip things down and you\u2019re going to lose some guys, as much as it\u2019s about (gaining) draft picks it\u2019s about also guys on your team who have been asking for a little bit more ice time,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity, and I found that when I was there it was very competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strome called the NHL \u201ca young man\u2019s league,\u201d pointing to his Ducks as an example. Leo Carlsson (No. 2 overall draft pick in 2023), Beckett Sennecke (No. 3 overall in 2024) and Mason McTavish (No. 3 overall in 2021) and Cutter Gauthier (No. 5 overall in 2022 by Philadelphia) are all among the team\u2019s highest scorers this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to have good high draft picks that produce and succeed,\u201d Strome said. \u201cIt\u2019s tough to rebuild quickly. You kind of have to do it the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

That will be the Rangers\u2019 challenge going forward.<\/p>\n

Here are eight other thoughts from the Rangers\u2019 loss in Anaheim, which dropped them to 21-23-6. It was not embarrassing like some of New York\u2019s recent losses, but it reflected what led to Drury\u2019s recent letter: this team is still a ways from being a contender.<\/p>\n

1. Rangers fans are growing more and more comfortable expressing their displeasure in Drury. \u201cFire Drury!\u201d chants began at Madison Square Garden recently, and a couple fans at the Honda Center made their feelings clear Monday. One held up a sign in warmups expressing displeasure in the general manager (as well as love for ex-Ranger and current Ducks forward Chris Kreider), and another fan tweeted a picture<\/a> from the game with a paper bag over his head. There was also a sign that said \u201cFIRE DRURY DOLAN SUCKS,\u201d referencing owner James Dolan.<\/p>\n

2. Former Rangers captain Jacob Trouba has now played against New York three times. He said it felt less significant than his first game facing his old team or the first time he returned to Madison Square Garden as a visitor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s history there and memories and all the stuff that goes with it,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a little bit different than other teams. Lot of different players from when I was there. I guess it\u2019s pretty similar to playing Winnipeg.\u201d (Trouba started his career with the Jets.)<\/p>\n

Trouba was clearly aware of his opponent throughout the day. At the Ducks\u2019 morning skate, someone blared circus music from their dressing room \u2014 perhaps a cue that New York reporters were about to enter. Sporting Tribune reporter Zach Cavanagh reported it was Trouba\u2019s doing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The bruising defenseman had plenty of pep when the game began. Early in the first period, he laid defensive zone hits on Matthew Robertson and J.T. Miller, his successor as Rangers\u2019 captain. The Ducks couldn\u2019t get the puck out of their own end, however, and Robertson capitalized with a goal.<\/p>\n

Trouba picked up a point in the second period, when Braden Schneider failed to backhand the puck out of the Rangers\u2019 end on a penalty kill, and it went right to him, leading to Alex Killorn whacking his shot when it trickled past goalie Spencer Martin. Trouba also played a team-high 3:20 on the penalty kill and was on the ice when the Ducks staved off a brief New York five-on-three in the final minutes. (The Rangers almost capitalized, but Miller couldn\u2019t score on a slap shot \u2014 he was still frustrated about the missed opportunity postgame \u2014 then he and Vincent Trocheck hit the crossbar and post, respectively.)<\/p>\n

3. Schneider wasn\u2019t alone in making costly turnovers. Miller, who assisted both the Rangers\u2019 first two goals, committed one that contributed to the Ducks\u2019 second goal. He tried to find Gabe Perreault with a hard pass as the young forward exited the zone, but Ducks center Ryan Poehling grabbed possession and put a shot on Martin, who couldn\u2019t handle it. Recently acquired<\/a> Ducks forward Jeffrey Viel cleaned up the rebound for his first goal with the Ducks.<\/p>\n

Coach Mike Sullivan harped on the Rangers\u2019 turnovers postgame.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the simplest, easiest ways to beat yourself is to not manage the puck,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re tired and you\u2019re working, you\u2019ve just got to make sure you\u2019re bearing down a little extra,\u201d Schneider said. \u201cThere were a couple times we definitely could\u2019ve, and we were kind of making it harder on ourselves than we needed to.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. The start of the third period doomed the Rangers. They were down only a goal at that point but the Ducks ambushed them after intermission, hemming New York in its own end. Gauthier eventually ripped a shot past Martin.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust sloppy,\u201d Miller said. \u201cJust an accumulation of errors.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Panarin had a power play goal in the second, blasting a Trocheck feed past Luk\u00e1\u0161 Dost\u00e1l off a zone entry, and Vladislav Gavrikov scored with the Rangers up a man in the third. The power play finished the night two-for-four, and Sullivan liked what he saw from the unit. He felt less charitable toward the Rangers\u2019 five-on-five play, saying they didn\u2019t sustain the necessary pace of play. Anaheim finished the game with a slight edge in five-on-five expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick.<\/p>\n

6. During this stretch for the Rangers, it will be important to look for small victories. Top prospect Gabe Perreault\u2019s progression could be one of them. The 20-year-old made a nice move off a Miller feed to nearly score on Ducks\u2019 goalie Luk\u00e1\u0161 Dost\u00e1l, and Miller raved about his play away from the puck postgame.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a helluva game today,\u201d Miller said. \u201cHe was in such good spots all over the rink today. You can tell he\u2019s learning a lot as he goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s getting quicker with his decision making,\u201d Sullivan added. \u201cI think his foot speed is picking up and the game is probably slowing down in his brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

7. Mika Zibanejad and Kreider, his close friend, were both on the ice for the opening draw. Zibanejad was scratched for Kreider\u2019s return to Madison Square Garden, so Monday marked the first time the two faced off since Jan. 24, 2016, back when Zibanejad was with Ottawa.<\/p>\n

8. The Anaheim crowd began chanting \u201cWe want chicken!\u201d after Gauthier\u2019s goal early in the third. If the Ducks score five goals at home, fans in attendance receive credit for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich. Anaheim hadn\u2019t reached the necessary threshold at home since Dec. 7, perhaps adding to the fervor of the chants.<\/p>\n

Playing the Rangers is a good antidote to scoring woes. Monday was the fourth time in six games New York has allowed five or more goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ANAHEIM, Calif. \u2014 The Ducks are on their way out of a rebuild. The Rangers are heading into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,6755],"class_list":["post-141414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-new-york-rangers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}