It’s finally over.

The Rangers were officially eliminated from the playoffs in a 7-3 loss to the Hurricanes in Raleigh yesterday. Now, a long off-season that promises to be filled with changes awaits.

For months, it was painfully obvious that they weren’t a playoff team. There were too many issues that boiled to the surface to ruin the season. Somehow, they became unwatchable a year removed from having the league’s best record and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.

In doing so, the Rangers became only the fourth team to go from winning the Presidents’ Trophy to missing the postseason the next season. They joined the 1992-93 New York Rangers, 2007-08 Buffalo Sabres, and 2014-15 Boston Bruins to make the wrong kind of history.

Considering how awful they were since late November, it’s a relief that there won’t be any more games after this Thursday. Fans who supported the team were sick of watching them. They became my least favorite team. Even the teams from the Dark Ages (1997-98 – 2003-04) were more interesting to watch. As bad as that era was, they didn’t look disinterested. This team looked like it couldn’t wait for the season to end.

The saddest part is that there are two games left for Sam Rosen to call. As much as he hoped he could drag them to the playoffs, they embarrassed the jersey instead.

Where did it all go wrong? Was it the way Chris Drury handled Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba last summer? After Goodrow was unceremoniously dumped in a waiver move to the Sharks, who were on his no-trade list, Drury failed to trade Trouba to the Red Wings.

Perhaps it was when Drury sent a memo out to the rest of the league that both Trouba and Chris Kreider were available. What followed was a futile 4-15 stretch that they never recovered from. There were so many bad losses. They looked like they didn’t care. By the end of 2024, Trouba was gone. He accepted a deal to Anaheim on Dec. 6. On a conference call, he admitted that the way the off-season was handled became a distraction.

There was also the way Kaapo Kakko was handled by Peter Laviolette. After a good start, he saw his role decrease. When he was made a healthy scratch, Kakko voiced his displeasure. That led to him being traded to Seattle on Dec. 18.

When Zac Jones hardly played for nearly six weeks, he went public as well. A restricted free agent with arbitration rights after the season, his days are numbered. He probably can’t wait to find a new team.

Even the way Gabriel Perreault and Brennan Othmann have been handled hasn’t made sense. Since signing his entry-level contract, Perreault has only played three games. At least he will get into the final two. Othmann has shown some capability. But he still hasn’t scored a goal. Why is it so hard for the Rangers to play their first round picks consistent minutes? All of this needs to change next season.

For Chris Kreider, he might have played his last game as a Ranger. He hasn’t looked right most of the season. He missed some time due to two different injuries. He went from scoring 39 goals and recording a career best 36 assists last season to having 21 goals and just five assists in 66 games this season. For a while, he’s had his ice time reduced while playing with Sam Carrick and Matt Rempe on the fourth line. Kreider has still been featured on the power play and penalty kill. With nothing left to play for, he could sit out the final two remaining games.

Is there any reason for Adam Fox to play? Ever since he absorbed a knee on knee hit from Sebastian Aho last year, he hasn’t been the same player. Ironically enough, he took another one from current teammate Nicholas Aube-Kubel in the first round against the Caps. Fox has still paced all Rangers defensemen in scoring with 61 points (10-51-61). But he looks compromised. He probably needs to have surgery.

Mika Zibanejad has played in every game. Despite struggling to score goals and rapidly declining defensively, he’s never been made an example of. It isn’t about questioning his effort. However, why has he escaped any discipline? What’s become clear is that he’s more effective playing the right side over playing center. Either way, he’s overpaid. What does the future hold for a player with a full no-movement clause? Would he be willing to waive it for a fresh start elsewhere? Or are they stuck with him?

On Saturday, the Rangers lost 7-3 to the Hurricanes who swept the season series by outscoring them 18-7. In a way, they got a measure of revenge for getting eliminated in the second round. They’ll take on the Devils in the first round while the Rangers book tee times.

After starting out by testing Pyotr Kochetkov with some good shots, the Rangers fell apart again. Once Jalen Chatfield got the Hurricanes on the board with a shot from long distance, the Rangers were dominated for the remainder of the first period.

With Vincent Trocheck in pain during a defensive shift, Sebastian Aho took advantage by finding Seth Jarvis alone in front to make it 2-0. Both Braden Schneider and Urho Vaakanainen chased Aho behind the net, which allowed Jarvis to easily score his 32nd with 2:14 remaining.

Aho forced a turnover that led to the Canes’ third goal just over two minutes into the second period. He took the puck away from K’Andre Miller to keep a forecheck alive. Eventually, Jackson Blake had his centering pass bank off Jarvis right to him for his 17th. On the play, Zibanejad got caught napping when Blake came around the net and put in the loose puck to make it 3-0.

After Artemi Panarin came close to cutting the deficit to two, with his shot hitting the crossbar, another strong shift from the Hurricanes resulted in Mark Jankowski putting them ahead 4-0. The Canes’ fourth line cycled the puck down low. Tyson Jost worked the puck to William Carrier, who then centered it for an easy Jankowski finish. Sam Carrick got caught out of position on the goal.

If there was a bright spot on a forgettable day, Will Cuylle got his 20th with 15.5 seconds left in the period. On a play created by J.T. Miller, Cuylle picked up a loose puck at the blue line and beat Kochetkov with a low shot from the left circle to make it 4-1 headed to the locker room.

A great solo effort from Jordan Staal restored the four-goal led for the Hurricanes less than four minutes into the third period. Following a takeaway inside his own blue line, Staal blew past Schneider and then beat Shesterkin upstairs to make it 5-1. Schneider took the wrong angle and was beaten badly by Staal, who got his 13th unassisted. Shesterkin didn’t play the shot well. He crouched down and bit on the fake leaving the top of the net open for Staal to pick.

It felt like the game was over. But a Miller power-play goal cut it to 5-2. Following a faceoff win, Trocheck made a nice one touch pass for Miller to blast past Kochetkov for his 21st. It was his 12th goal since coming over from Vancouver. In 30 games, he has 32 points.

Less than three minutes later, Fox took a nice Panarin feed down low and scored his 10th on a backhand to suddenly cut it to 5-3 with 10:58 remaining. It was a brilliant pass from Panarin, who is one point shy of reaching 90 points for the fourth consecutive year. Since joining the Rangers, he’s posted four seasons of 90 points or more. The only season he didn’t do it in was the Covid abbreviated one in 2020-21 when he recorded 58 points in 42 games.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour made a puzzling decision to challenge the goal for goaltender interference. On the goal, Trocheck’s skates came together with Sean Walker who bumped into Kochetkov. Replays on ABC showed that it was incidental and wasn’t goaltender interference. The amount of time Brind’Amour took before challenging was too long. The league needs to reevaluate how long coaches should have to challenge a call. There should be a 90-second window.

Despite getting a power play out of it, the Rangers were unable to capitalize. That was their last gasp.

Laviolette made the curious decision to pull Shesterkin early. Despite his team continuing to attack the Hurricanes and get chances, he went for a six-on-five with over three and a half minutes remaining. Ryan Callahan was proven correct in his assertion that he wouldn’t have lifted Shesterkin so early.

A Fox pass to Kreider saw Staal aggressively force Kreider into a turnover in the neutral zone. The puck went right to Jordan Martinook who hit the empty net to make it 6-3 with 3:33 remaining. A frustrated Fox slammed the puck into the boards. Logan Stankoven added another empty netter.

The season was over. The look on his face summed it up. It’s been that kind of year. The most disappointing since 1992-93. Save the comparisons. That team didn’t need to make many changes to the roster. They had a captain. Listening to Mark Messier on an intermission segment criticize the Rangers spoke volumes. They don’t have a captain. Who is their leader? Is it Trocheck or Miller? Those are the only two candidates.

One thing that is obvious is that Laviolette will not be back. Judging from his body language on the bench, he looks like he needs a vacation. He’s never coached a team that tuned him out in the second year. As Mollie Walker highlighted in her excellent piece in the NY Post on Sunday, there’s been a serious disconnect between the coach and players.

Leah Hextall reported on ESPN that the Rangers bench was “church-like” during the game and Laviolette hadn’t said more than two words.

That checks out, considering the writing has essentially been on the wall for the second-year coach since December.

“Even tonight, we didn’t do the right things well enough to be successful,” Laviolette said. “We give up three goals point blank in front of our net. Can’t happen. It’s been pretty consistent all year, we just haven’t played well enough to win hockey games. That’s what makes it frustrating and disappointing.

“I believe that this team is good enough to win hockey games, good enough to play in the playoffs, but we’re not in it. That’s the reality of it. We didn’t do the right things. We didn’t do them enough.”

The Rangers have been a fundamentally flawed team all season. Even when they were winning games to at one point to start 12-4-1, both Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick were bailing them out. There were too many mistakes made in coverage and not enough backchecking. They were careless by turning over pucks and not always hustling back.

The defensive system assistant coach Phil Housley had broken down. Eventually, so too did the goalies. The power play became abominable, going from ranked in the top three to near the bottom a year later. Even the penalty kill deteriorated recently, falling out of the top 10 despite having a league-leading 16 shorthanded goals.

In short, they fell apart. On a Masters Sunday, it’s appropriate that there’s golf on. That’s where they’re headed next weekend.