On Thursday night, MSG welcomed back Team USA Olympic heroes J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck, along with head coach Mike Sullivan. Assistant general manager Chris Drury was booed by the crowd, who cheered Sullivan, Miller, and Trocheck for helping USA win the gold medal at the Olympics.

Then, it was business as usual with the Rangers continuing a Garden tradition of finding a way to lose at home to the Flyers 3-2 in overtime. Matvei Michkov stepped out of the penalty box and skated past a gassed Miller to score the winner on Igor Shesterkin. His second goal of the game helped the Flyers complete a comeback from a two-goal deficit to earn the victory.

Buoyed by goals from Sam Carrick and Alexis Lafreniere, who got his 13th to match his jersey number, the Rangers ran into penalty trouble in the second period. Eventually, the loss of discipline swung the momentum with Michkov converting on a Flyers power play to get them back in the game.

In the third period, Vladislav Gavrikov got caught pinching, which led to Trevor Zegras beating Shesterkin on a two-on-one rush that tied the score.

It was part of a rough night for Gavrikov, who also took a high-sticking minor late in regulation that the Rangers had to kill off. Even with defense partner Adam Fox back in the lineup, Gavrikov continued to struggle. A downward spiral that started when he played with Braden Schneider.

Even on a special night, the Rangers couldn’t take advantage of a Michkov goaltender interference penalty that came with less than nine seconds left in the third period. Instead, they managed to turn unheralded backup Sam Ersson into Bernie Parent.

Despite giving up a lousy goal to Carrick on a dump-in that went through him, Ersson made several big saves, including robbing Fox on a four-on-one early on. With his team down a man in overtime, he made two strong denials on Mika Zibanejad and Trocheck.

Following the chaos, Sean Couturier hit Michkov in stride after he returned. He blew past Miller and fooled Shesterkin by beating him through the wickets for the overtime winner.

Miller got caught out on a long shift and had nothing left, allowing Michkov to take advantage. Shesterkin should’ve had the shot. For the most part, he was sharp, making 21 saves in his return. Unfortunately, he was unable to prevent Michkov from winning it.

Following the game, a reporter asked Fox a tough question about how he felt regarding the Rangers retool. Instead of indicating that he wanted to stay, he was noncommittal.

“I’m just trying to focus on this year right now. That’s a conversation when we’re done playing games. We’re just trying to win games, we didn’t do that tonight. That’s where my focus is right now.”

It probably wasn’t the appropriate time to ask Fox his thoughts on the organization’s plans moving forward. He just returned from a lower-body injury that kept him out since Jan. 5. Injuries to both Fox and Shesterkin in the same game dashed any realistic playoff hopes the team had.

Since Drury released the Letter on Jan. 16, the Rangers have gone 2-7-1 over the last 10 games. Over a larger span that dates back to Dec. 4, they’ve won only four games in regulation. In fact, since defeating the Caps on Dec. 23, they’re 4-13-3.

With Artemi Panarin dealt to the Kings before the Olympics, more moves are coming. While both Schneider and Trocheck will continue to have their names come up before the March 6 trade deadline, Fox is supposed to be untouchable due to how crucial he is to the blue line. If he decides that he wants out this summer, that could alter the Rangers’ plans completely.

A bona-fide top defenseman who’s still considered one of the league’s best, the recently turned 28-year-old Fox is an elite player who averages close to 24 minutes while contributing at both five-on-five and on the power play. He’s the only offensive defenseman on the roster. There isn’t anyone close to him who can bring what he does.

In order for Fox to be moved, he’d have to request a trade to management. A player with a full no-movement clause through 2026-27, his contract doesn’t expire until 2029. His $9.5 million cap hit makes him one of the highest paid defensemen in the NHL.

Since he was acquired from the Hurricanes, Fox has been a big part of some good Rangers teams that made deep playoff runs in 2021-22 and 2023-24. Injuries have limited him recently. Fox missed significant time twice this season due to two separate issues.

The question has now become whether he’s injury prone. However, he showed no signs of slowing down at the start of the season. After coming off an unsteady 2024-25 in which he still looked compromised due to a pair of knee-on-knee collisions in 2023-24, Fox got off to a great start by putting up 26 points (3-23-26) in his first 27 games.

Unfortunately, Fox took the brunt of a Brandon Hagel hit that caused an upper-body injury on Nov. 29. He was placed on long-term injured reserve, missing 15 games before returning on Dec.  31. After having a goal and assist, he played three more games before sustaining a lower-body injury, missing another 14 games.

Without him and Shesterkin, the Rangers fell apart. Losing their two biggest stars proved to be too much, which eventually led to Panarin accepting a trade to Los Angeles for top prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third round pick. If the Kings’ first two games are any indication, it doesn’t look like the third will be upgraded to a second. LA has to make the playoffs for that to happen.

If Fox is uncertain about what he wants to do, that could have something to do with his coach and GM not doing enough to convince Team USA architect Bill Guerin to select him for the Olympics. Following the gold medal victory, Sullivan said:

“The team was built with personality in mind… There are whiskey drinkers and milk drinkers, and we got a lot of whiskey drinkers.“

That quote might’ve stung Fox, who isn’t exactly Mister personality. Whether it did or not remains to be seen. With 24 games left in a dismal season, there’ll continue to be speculation due to Fox’s reaction last night.

There’s also the fact that the Rangers are in a very different place than they were two years ago. They went from a Presidents’ Trophy playoff contender into one of the league’s worst teams. With only 14 regulation wins and 51 points, they have the second worst record, which puts them in the lottery for prized prospects Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg.

Does Fox want to stay with a team that looks a long way from competing for a Stanley Cup? He’s entering the prime of his career. Only he knows the answer to that.

It’s wait and see until the off-season.