Rangers president and GM Chris Drury says 'nothing's off the table' when it comes to roster changes

Six days after the Rangers’ season-ending 2-1 loss to the Florida Panthers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final, president and general manager Chris Drury held his end-of-season debriefing with the local media on Friday afternoon. And while the always-close-to-the-vest Drury revealed very little about his plans to improve the club in the offseason, he did say that “nothing’s off the table’’ as he tries to help the Rangers capture the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1994.

Drury said there are “lots of positives to take away’’ from the season, but he didn’t give a definitive yes when asked if he believes the core of the current team is good enough to win a Stanley Cup next season.

“It’s something we’re always constantly looking at and thinking about,’’ he said. “I do believe in our players individually. We have a lot of really good players here. We have a lot of players who had great seasons, and a number of them have been very good Rangers for a long time.

“Now, part of the job is to figure out if this group collectively can get us to where we want to be. The process is already underway and will continue throughout the offseason.’’

Asked if he would consider moving one of his core players in an effort to upgrade the team’s talent, Drury said, “We’re looking at a lot of different things and there’s different ways to get to where we want to go. And you know, to me, really, nothing’s off the table.’’

During Friday’s short Zoom teleconference, Drury was questioned about a few topics, including the postseason performances of the team’s top forwards — Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider — and the play of captain Jacob Trouba, who revealed on breakup day that he suffered a broken ankle late in the season (but managed to play through it).

Asked specifically if the trio of Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider needed to be better in the playoffs or needed more help around them, Drury said, “I think it’s a little bit of both.’’

Trouba said on Tuesday that “a kidney-sized chunk of my ankle came off’’ late in the regular season. And while he said he was healthy and ready to play by the time the playoffs came around and refused to use the injury as an excuse for his playoff-high 11 minor penalties, he did concede “you’re definitely limited by that’’ and called the injury “an interesting one to play with.’’

“Jacob’s been an excellent captain and leader for us,’’ Drury said. “He comes to play hard every single night . . . He gives us everything he can every single night.’’

On the topic of finding a long-term solution for the hole at right wing on the top line with Zibanejad and Kreider, Drury said, “We’re looking at a lot of different options, some internal, some external. Whether it’s through trade, free agency . . . We’re going to continue to look and explore and try to find someone that could become a good fit for them.’’

In discussing the future of young winger Kaapo Kakko — who wasn’t a strong fit when put in that spot next to Kreider and Zibanejad and was scratched for Game 2 against Florida — Drury drew parallels to Alexis Lafreniere.

Many questioned the Rangers’ No. 1 pick in the 2020 draft at the end of last season, but Lafreniere had a breakout campaign with 28 goals in the regular season and eight more in the playoffs.

“I think Kaapo is a real good young player,’’ Drury said. “He had some injury trouble this year with the lower-body injury, missed [21 games] but battled back. But we’re going to continue to try to find everything we can do to help him reach his potential.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.