TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — As the New York Rangers continue to sink in the standings and face criticism from fans, Chris Drury has issued his first public statement since the start of the 2025-26 season.

The organization is entering a “retool,” but it is not a full “rebuild,” the team president and general manager stated in a message shared on social media and sent directly to season-ticket holders.

“With our position in the standings and injuries to key players this season, we must be honest and realistic about our situation,” it read. “We are not going to stand pat — a shift will give us the ability to be smart and opportunistic as we retool the team. This will not be a rebuild. This will be a retool built around our core players and prospects. We will target players that bring tenacity, skill, speed, and a winning pedigree with a focus on obtaining young players, draft picks, and cap space to allow us flexibility moving forward. That may mean saying goodbye to players that have brought us and our fans great moments over the years.”

Drury met individually with New York’s leadership group, which includes Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Mika Zibanejad and captain J.T. Miller, and held a full team meeting Friday to brace them for the news, according to a league source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

A source briefed on the matter described the meeting with Panarin as “honest,” with Drury informing the pending free agent that the Rangers will not be offering him a contract extension and want to work together to find a trade destination that gives him a chance to win. The team’s leading scorer each of the last seven seasons holds a no-movement clause that gives him full control over his situation.

The same source who characterized the Panarin meeting indicated that a group of veterans with no-movement clauses — Fox, Miller, Zibanejad, Vladislav Gavrikov and Igor Shesterkin — were asked if they’re willing to stick around for the retool or would consider waiving their NMCs to go elsewhere. Early indications are that all five expressed their desire to stay in New York.

Panarin is the Rangers’ most obvious trade chip, but who else New York is willing to part with remains fluid. Calls from opposing general managers are sure to come flooding in and dictate what the market looks like for each player, but what’s clear is that Drury will be the one to execute the plan. He was given a multi-year extension last April, then publicly backed by owner James Dolan in a Jan. 5 interview with WFAN Radio. That Drury was the one to pen Friday’s letter leaves little room for doubt.

The statement reinforces much of what The Athletic has reported in recent weeks about Drury’s security and the direction of the team. The hierarchy is aiming for a quicker turnaround, rather than a long, drawn-out process. However, with the Rangers missing arguably their two best players (Fox and goalie Igor Shesterkin) due to lower-body injuries and losing five straight to drop into last place in the Eastern Conference, they can no longer ignore the obvious deterioration of both the NHL roster and prospect pipeline. Restocking the organizational talent pool will require at least a partial selloff to gather future assets and infuse a sagging lineup with youth.

Breaking down ‘The Letter’ 2.0

It’s a page right out of the playbook of the previous administration, led by former team president Glen Sather and general manager Jeff Gorton, who less than eight years ago issued the Rangers’ original “Letter” to kick off the team’s late-2010s rebuild. Drury was assistant GM at the time.

The Letter 2.0 represents a dramatic fall from grace for a team that’s only a year and a half removed from winning the Presidents’ Trophy and reaching the conference final. They followed that up with a disastrous 2024-25 season in which missing the playoffs was overshadowed by constant behind-the-scenes turmoil. Several cultural issues came to the forefront, while Drury’s forceful dismantling of the roster — including the messy ousters of Barclay Goodrow, Chris Kreider and former captain Jacob Trouba — tore the locker room apart.

Drury sold off several others over a chaotic eight-month period while also acquiring Miller as his new centerpiece and captain. The hope was that he and coach Mike Sullivan, who came to New York last May after 10 seasons and two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, would lead a bounce-back campaign in 2025-26. However, Miller has largely disappointed, while the Rangers’ lack of scoring, speed and overall depth has become painfully apparent.

How long it will take to turn things around is up for debate. They can try to build around Fox, who will turn 28 next month, and Shesterkin, who just turned 30, but they have very little up front that offers promise for the future.

Panarin has been the Rangers’ driving force on offense since he arrived in 2019, but now he’s on his way out. Meanwhile, Miller, Trocheck and Zibanejad will all turn 33 this year and none of the organization’s prospects outside of Gabe Perreault projects as top six forwards. There’s not much coming on defense, either.

New York must improve its poor track record of drafting and developing to have any chance of building a sustainable winner, but that will require a hard look at what’s gone wrong over the years — and time.

Drury will also have to get creative in his efforts to revamp a depleted system. Along with Panarin, you can expect to see pending UFA defenseman Carson Soucy shopped around in the coming weeks, but overall, the Rangers are short on appealing free agents to use as trade bait.

A chance to jump-start the process could come from listening to offers on Trocheck, who has three years remaining on a contract that pays him $5.625 million annually and is the only member of the Rangers’ veteran core without a full NMC. He’s a Drury favorite who’s also very close with Miller and has a 12-team no-trade list, but dealing him would likely net a first-round pick, a good prospect and possibly more based on recent comps involving second-line centers.

The belief is that Drury will look to flip some of the assets he compiles in the coming weeks and months when opportunities arise to acquire players who are ready to contribute sooner than later. The preference is to get younger and faster, as Friday’s message emphasized, but they also want to be armed to take a run at any proven stars who become available in the next few years.

The letter should buy Drury some time, but there’s a healthy dose of skepticism about his ability to complete what looks to be an extremely difficult task. The Rangers can call it whatever they want, but the bottom line is they’re being forced to tear it down and build it back up because of a series of their own mistakes.