Chris Drury has more to address than just tightening up Rangers core

Sentiment left the executive suite the moment Saturday’s final buzzer in Sunrise, Fla., signaled the death knell for the 2023-24 Rangers, and so did romancing the core.

Chris Drury, the general manager, is careful with his words when interacting with the press. He gives away nothing. And so, what Drury said during Friday’s conference call with the writers who have covered the team throughout the season was notable.

When I asked the GM if he believes the core — that has essentially been in place for four or five seasons — has enough playoff-type qualities to bring the Rangers to the next level, the answer was anything but pablum.

“I do believe in our players individually. We have a lot of good players here. A lot of players had great seasons,” Drury said. “A number of them have been Rangers for a long time.

“Now is the part of the job to figure out whether this group collectively can get us to where we want to be.”

Nevertheless, and this is likely a reflection of just how ingrained the core has become with the team identity, and certainly as it relates to senior letter-wearers Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but the first question Drury received after giving that answer was who the Rangers were going to look at to play right wing with Nos. 20 and 93.