Elliotte Friedman speculates major changes for Rangers following ‘nightmare’ season - “Lot of questions around Laviolette”

By Ankit Kumar

Modified Apr 19, 2025 18:44 GMT

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Elliotte Friedman believes that the New York Rangers could make major changes this offseason. He talked about the team on Saturday's episode of the "32 Thoughts" podcast.

The Rangers missed the playoffs for the first time since 2021. They finished the season with a 39-36-7 record and 85 points. It was disappointing considering they won the Presidents' Trophy last year.

"I don't think they expected it to go like this. It went really poorly," Friedman said. "They put Trouba, Kreider out there. I think there were points in the season when the Rangers started to play better that you really thought it was behind them, but it was very clear they couldn't do that."

Friedman also said that New York needs to ask players if they can move on from what happened. If not, the team may look to move them.

"Now, if you're the Rangers, you have to sit there and you have to say, we're ending this," Friedman said. "This is not going to hang over our team next year. And you have to ask your players honest questions, can you move on? No. If not, we'll get you out of here."

Mika Zibanejad spoke about his contract and said he has rights. He was clear that he signed it in good faith. Friedman said that Zibanejad is correct, but also pointed out the Jacob Trouba trade. Trouba had partial protection but still got traded. Zibanejad has full protection, so it would be harder; however, Friedman also mentioned that the Rangers may still explore options if they don’t believe things will improve.

"But if they are not convinced that's going to happen, even though Zibanejad is drawing the line in the sand, you have to wait and see what can happen here," Friedman said.

Peter Laviolette became the team's coach in June 2023. He led New York to a strong regular season and a Presidents’ Trophy win last year. However, this season, the Rangers finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division.

Friedman added that there are questions about Laviolette’s future, with many not expecting him to return.

"There's a lot of questions about Laviolette. I don't think people expect to see them back," Friedman said. "Who are they going to hire, and what are they going to do roster-wise? That's the biggest question."

The Ragers acquired J.T. Miller, who played well after joining the team. Still, they could not stay consistent and had issues with defense and the power play. They started the season well, but things got worse after December.

Peter Laviolette's statement on staying with NY Rangers

The New York Rangers ended the season with a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday. Speaking to the media after the game, Peter Laviolette mentioned that he still wants to be the coach.

"Well, I'm here, so that's where I'm at right now. So no, those are things I can't control," Laviolette said. "Like I said before, when I think it was in Long Island, those are conversations. All conversations have come out the year certainly wasn't where it needed to be. But right now I'm here. This is where I wanted to be."

Laviolette joined the team after replacing Gerard Gallant. Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury is expected to make changes this summer, and Laviolette could be part of it.