THE New York Rangers traded their captain and 2019 No. 2 pick in the last two weeks. Nothing could stop their slide from being a Metro Division contender to a team with less than a 30 percent chance of making the playoffs, and general manager Chris Drury still has the urge to continue tinkering with his roster in eliminating the bodies and the cap. space.

Drury’s team, which faces the host Dallas Stars Friday, has not responded to any of the threats of change or actual changes so far. Friday will be the Rangers’ first game without Kaapo Kakkodistributed to Seattle Kraken Wednesday. Friday is also the start of the eight days NHL the Holiday roster is frozen, so there’s nothing for the Rangers to do, at least during the holidays.

But unless things can change, this team is back in the draft lottery – a place the Rangers thought they left for a long time after Drury took over and the Rangers made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021 and ’22. This means Drury will continue to look for opportunities to move players before the March 7 trade deadline and possibly during the offseason.

So who could be next?

Most likely moved

Jimmy Vesey: The 31-year-old forward missed the start of the season and played in just 17 of 31 games without the impact he had in a 13-goal season a year ago. Moving Vesey won’t have much of an impact on the Rangers, since he signed a pending unrestricted free agent and the return wouldn’t be more than a fourth or fifth round pick. But that would open up a bottom-six spot for a younger player. A league source said Vesey has been the subject of numerous searches since Drury’s trade text was released on Nov. 24.

Ryan Lindgren: Perhaps Drury will retain Lindgren and move closer to March 7 to maximize the return, but it certainly appears the 26-year-old is nearing the end of his tenure with the Rangers. He was a heart-and-soul player during his five-year career with the Rangers, but the broken jaw he suffered in a preseason scrimmage and the team’s increasingly poor defense combined to make Lindgren a shadow of his former self as a Ranger. THE Tampa Bay Lightning just lost young left-handed defenseman JJ Moser for two months, so this could be a good landing spot for Lindgren.

Reilly Smith: The veteran striker was brought in to bring some maturity and skill into the top six, but like many of Rangers’ plans thus far, it hasn’t worked out that way. The Rangers gave up a 2027 second-rounder for Smith this summer; if they want something similar in return, they will probably have to make a choice in a similar and distant project. Smith, 33, has 15 points in 30 games, so it hasn’t all been negative. He could still help out a contender and the Rangers should be willing to keep some of their salary against the $3.75 million cap hit that Smith carries.

William Borgen: He just arrived, I know. But the 28-year-old right-handed defenseman would have been an asset to Seattle if he had stayed there; Unless Borgen, who is a pending UFA with a $2.7 million cap hit, helps turn around the Rangers, he could easily be flipped in the coming months for a second-round pick. Competing teams love to stock up on defenders and the break from the 4 Nations tournament in February will give general managers plenty of time to consider their options.

Less likely, but still possible

K’Andre Miller: If the Rangers are in full sell-out mode and particularly interested in reinventing their defense corps, Miller will surely be on point and interesting. He’s a pending restricted free agent looking for a big raise off the $3.872 million cap hit he has, but his play this season, with just six points in 28 games (and currently on injured reserve ) doesn’t scream a $50 million deal. If he puts this all together like he started two seasons ago, there will be major regrets in the Rangers front office, but Drury may believe he can find a similar, more consistent top-four defender .

Filip Chytil: “He might be our favorite guy on their roster,” a Western Conference executive told me last week, “but there are too many concerns.” Chytil’s concussion history could certainly scare away any potential suitors, but he’s going to be stuck as the No. 3/No. 1 center. 2 member on the power play indefinitely here and would have more value elsewhere. He is locked in for two more years with a very reasonable cap hit of $4.437 million. If a team wants to take a chance, the return may not be so hot, and that could prevent Drury from making such a move.

Zac Jones: The 24-year-old left-handed defender just got his first real chance at consistent playing time, and it’s not going so well. This is a pending tender that brings in less than a million, so there’s not much incentive to move it, although it may not feature in future plans of the team.

Chris Kreider: Yes, he is number 1 on Athleticsbut unless Drury is adamant about moving from the Rangers’ closest thing to a lifer – which would essentially mean giving up Kreider for little return, as there probably isn’t a solid market for a 33 year old who has two years left at $6.5 million – so I think Kreider stays. Friends say it means something to Kreider to remove a Ranger, even if he’s part of the core the general manager wants to drastically change. If things continue to deteriorate this season, Kreider’s place on this board could change, but for now, he definitely wants to be here forever.

Even less likely, but you never know

Mika Zibanejad: The odds against a Zibanejad trade are huge, almost as huge as the five years remaining on his contract. But his minutes are dwindling and his season is in disarray; Drury would likely be eager to find a trade partner if Zibanejad was willing to waive his no-move clause. There is no indication that this is a possibility. If it comes to this – if Zibanejad, one of the most thoughtful players around, sees the writing on the wall and decides he’d rather be somewhere else, that remains an incredibly difficult situation for any other team.

Don’t go anywhere

Basically every other member of the regular list is a lock. Jonathan Rapide could possibly ask to be moved to try his luck at a fourth Stanley Cup, but he is rather well established in his native region. Igor Shesterkin had the opportunity to test the waters, but was stuck for eight more years. Alexis Lafrenière is also locked up. Artemi Panarin And Vincent Trocheque are important pieces. Will Cuylle, Brett Berard And Adam Edstrom are part of the future from the start. The same goes for Adam Fox, Braden Schneider and Victor Mancini.

Things will remain calm until the squad freeze is lifted on December 27. After that, unless this Rangers team changes the situation somehow, chaos is likely to resume.

(Photo by Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller and Filip Chytil: Elsa / Getty Images)