The New York Rangers have been a dysfunctional franchise this whole season. It has been well-documented that since the summer, General Manager Chris Drury wanted to change the look of his team, which led to unrest among the players in the locker room. Whether they want to admit it or not, it clearly showed on the ice.

Not to mention, once the note Drury sent to the other NHL General Managers became public back in November, there was even more unrest. It was an apparent change of direction by Drury. Even though the Rangers had a good record, it was a clear message from the GM that he didn’t think they were good enough to make the playoffs. But the Rangers had to get there first.

In the end, the Rangers failed to make the playoffs, and it left many players wondering why the course correction was made so early in the season, including Mika Zibanejad.

“It starts with us players. We have to take ownership of what we do and how we go about things, but I think it has to be cohesive with everyone,” Zibanejad said to the media last Monday at their breakup day. “This organization doesn’t work without the players. The organization, for us players, doesn’t work for the people that work above us. We have to work together, as well, and we have to look at it and we have to talk about it.”

Zibanejad was one of the names in the memo Drury sent to the other 31 GMs in the NHL. But the way he was speaking, it sounded like the players needed to be part of the team-building process. They want to be part of management and the decisions made when it comes to trading certain players.

Again, they were not happy with the way management handled Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba. The players feel they need to know everything management is thinking. Unfortunately, as an NHL player, that is not their job responsibility. Their job is to go and execute the game plan the coaching staff lays out for them to win games.

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From all indications, that was not the issue. Players were getting the messaging from the coaching staff before Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley were let go by the organization over a week ago. It has more to do with up and down the organization.

But why do the players need to know what management is thinking and vice versa? Yes, the players could have expressed their opinions better to Chris Drury instead of sabotaging their season. However, there is a perception out there, rightfully or wrongfully, that the players on the New York Rangers have a sense of entitlement.

Those words stated above by the Rangers number one center add to that theory. Again, whether that’s the case or not, that’s how it comes across.

But that has been the case all season. The players do not take responsibility or accountability for how they play on the ice. There was always an excuse from the players about how they performed, and they blamed management.

However, the NHL is a business, if we last checked. The only players who need to know what is going on are the ones involved in trades. While management should let the coaching staff know the team’s direction, the rest of the team does not need to know. Do players let teams know when they want to leave via free agency?

Sometimes they do. Most of the time, the players do what is in their best interest. Not the team. The players usually let their agents handle the business with the team. If management is changing direction, it goes to the coach, and the coach tells the players.

Usually, that’s how it works for most teams. Now, for teams that need a reset, the General Manager, Vice President, or President of Hockey Operations will gather their top stars and send a message similar to what we saw in Winnipeg. However, when there is no trust between the players and management, how can communication solve that mistrust?

The New York Rangers have a culture issue that needs to be addressed. Maybe the first step was to keep the General Manager. Now the players have to decide whether they’re in or out. Some will have to decide if they want to be part of the new direction and play for Chris Drury moving forward.

Sometimes, all it takes is clearing out one or two players to change the entire attitude of the locker room. One way or another, the New York Rangers need to change their perception of entitlement before next season.

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