Jim Cerny breaks down what Charlie Coyle's six-year deal in Columbus means for a potential Vincent Trocheck trade out of New York, why Chris Drury must absolutely nail the No. 5 pick and the retool, and whether Mike Sullivan's B-minus report card grade was fair. Then James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now joins the show for a "misery loves company" sitdown — Devils edition: the Jack Hughes Chicago dinner injury, the Quinn Hughes saga that helped cost Tom Fitzgerald his job, what new GM Sunny Mehta might do, and the Markstrom-Shesterkin goalie fight. Plus: if you're building a team from scratch with one local coach — Sullivan, Sheldon Keefe, or Peter DeBoer — who do you pick?

Chapters:

0:00 — Welcome back, recapping last week at Mustang Harry's

2:08 — Rangers fall to No. 5, Toronto wins the lottery

6:30 — Charlie Coyle re-signs with Columbus

9:30 — Why Drury must nail the Trocheck trade

13:00 — Minnesota, Detroit, and LA as Trocheck fits

15:30 — Report card fallout: Drury's D, Sully's B-minus

22:00 — The Lafrenière burden isn't going away

25:30 — A Pavel Dorofeev offer sheet pipe dream

28:15 — James Nichols joins: misery loves company

31:00 — The cursed Chicago dinner that broke the Devils

35:00 — Markstrom vs. Shesterkin

39:30 — Quinn Hughes saga and the end of Tom Fitzgerald

44:30 — Sizing up new Devils GM Sunny Mehta

52:00 — The Metro is wide open behind Carolina

55:30 — Sullivan, Keefe, or DeBoer — who do you build with?

Jim Cerny on why Coyle's six-year deal in Columbus is the best news Chris Drury could've gotten, what the Rangers need to extract for Trocheck, the Lafrenière burden, and report card pushback on Sullivan's B-minus.

James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now joins Jim for a "misery loves company" Rangers-Devils sitdown — the Jack Hughes Chicago dinner injury, the Markstrom-Shesterkin fight, the Quinn Hughes mess that ended Tom Fitzgerald, and whether Sunny Mehta packages the No. 12 pick for an aggressive move.

Jim Cerny is live from Mustang Harry's in midtown Manhattan with Lou Orlando of Forever Blueshirts for instant reaction to the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery — and it didn't go the Rangers' way. Sitting on the third-best odds, the Blueshirts got leapfrogged twice as the Toronto Maple Leafs vaulted up to grab the No. 1 overall pick (saving Boston the Brandon Carlo trade pick in the process) and the San Jose Sharks landed No. 2. The Rangers slide all the way down to fifth.

Jim and Lou break down what a top-five pick in a deep draft class actually means for a team that needs everything: Gavin McKenna goes to Toronto, Michael Misa or one of the top defensemen like Chase Reid and Jackson Smith become the realistic targets at five, and the conversation turns to whether Chris Drury should trade the pick for proven NHL talent — Brady Tkachuk, Jason Robertson, Pavel Dorofeyev, even a hypothetical Connor McDavid scenario after his frustrated end-of-season presser in Edmonton. Plus: where Will Cuylle really fits, the Braden Schneider trade fit in San Jose, and why "retool, not rebuild" isn't just semantics for James Dolan and the front office.

#Rangers #NYR #NHLDraftLottery #RinkRap #ForeverBlueshirts #NHLDraft #LetsGoRangers

Chapters:

00:00 — Live from Mustang Harry's, the lottery results are in

01:00 — How the balls fell: Rangers needed 9 or 14, got 12

03:00 — Toronto jumps to #1, saves Boston's Carlo pick

05:00 — The new top five: Rangers slide to fifth

07:30 — Lou Orlando joins the show

11:30 — Misa, Reid, and who could fall to five

17:00 — Did the final month soften the blow?

24:30 — Schneider to San Jose — does it still make sense?

27:30 — Retool vs. rebuild: why the word matters

38:00 — Drafting for need or best player available

45:00 — A pissed-off McDavid and what it could mean

49:00 — The Brady Tkachuk trade math

52:00 — Robertson and Dorofeyev as RFA targets

58:00 — Where Will Cuylle actually fits

1:01:30 — Lou's gut reaction to the lottery

1:06:00 — What to do with that second first-round pick

1:09:30 — Wrap-up from Mustang Harry's

Brady Tkachuk spoke to the media in Ottawa — and he didn't hold back. Murray Pam of Hockey Hot Stove joins us live from the arena, straight out of the press conference, to break down exactly what Tkachuk said and what his body language told the room. Spoiler: he's frustrated, he's committed, and he's tired of being asked.

Then we pivot to the New York Rangers offseason — the NHL Draft Lottery is just days away (Tuesday, May 5), and the Rangers hold an 11.5% chance at the #1 overall pick with a guaranteed top-5 selection. We break down what that means for the rebuild, how the roster looks right now, what Mike Sullivan said at breakup day, and who the key players are in the bottom-six development race.

Plus: GM moves around the league — Toronto eyeing John Chayka and Mats Sundin, Sunny Mehta named New Jersey's new GM, and former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton talks about the 2018 rebuild, Jim Dolan's vision, and how he found out he was fired.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro & Episode Overview

01:00 – BREAKING: Brady Tkachuk Press Conference (w/ Murray Pam, Hockey Hot Stove)

18:05 – Segment 2 Intro: Rangers Offseason & Draft Lottery Preview

25:00 – NHL Draft Lottery: Rangers' Odds, Top Prospects & What's at Stake

32:00 – Rangers Roster Breakdown: Bottom-Six, Greentree, Aspinall, Cartier & More

42:00 – Free Agency Strategy & Pavel Dorofeyev as a Target

46:30 – GM Carousel: Toronto, New Jersey, Vancouver & Seattle

48:45 – Jeff Gorton on the 2018 Rangers Rebuild & Jim Dolan

51:00 – Closing & What's Coming Next Week (Hart Levine/Puckpedia)

Murray Pam joins straight from the rink to break down Brady Tkachuk's surprise Ottawa press conference — why he's fed up with trade rumors, his commitment to the Senators, and what the next 12 months could mean for his future.

Jim breaks down the Rangers' offseason priorities — the high-stakes May 5 Draft Lottery, the roster as it stands today, free agency strategy (including a Dorofeyev offer-sheet idea), and the latest on GM moves around the league.

Jim Cerny sits down with Newsday Rangers beat writer Colin Stephenson to break down a difficult season and look ahead to what could be a defining offseason for New York. The two dig into the gaping hole in the top six left by the Artemi Panarin trade, whether the Rangers have the pieces — or the assets — to fix it, and why the free agent market this summer won't bail them out. They also assess Mike Sullivan's first year behind the bench, the encouraging post-Olympic stretch from Alexis Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault, what to realistically expect from the prospect pipeline, the Mika Zibanejad bounce-back season, the injury toll on Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox, and what a Chris Drury retool actually looks like. Plus — should Vincent Trocheck be moved, and is Alex Tuch a realistic free agent target?

🎙️ Rink Rap is the New York Rangers podcast from Forever Blueshirts.

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Chapters:

0:00 — Intro & welcome to Colin Stephenson

3:56 — Rangers' top six problem: who replaces Panarin's production?

6:29 — Was trading Panarin always the plan — and why?

8:02 — JT Miller & the shift toward a grittier identity

26:14 — Lafreniere's breakout: sustainable or situational?

29:24 — Gabe Perreault: encouraging signs, but pump the brakes

30:00 — Sakura, Kamilash and keeping youth expectations in check

32:06 — Mike Sullivan's first season: the good, the bad, the verdict

43:57 — Vincent Trocheck: keep him or trade him?

48:17 — The Florida Panthers model and why skill still wins

50:51 — Chris Drury's roster-building philosophy: overcorrected on grit?

57:30 — Adam Fox injury concerns and the Igor Shesterkin health factor

01:01:46 — Cap space, free agency outlook and the Tuch/Radish UFA market

01:02:28 — Trade vs. free agency: the smarter path to upgrading the Rangers