David Quinn was hired in the Sping of 2018 by the New York Rangers to usher in a new era, with their rebuild letter getting published only a few months prior. He was brought in to bring stability through a rebuild. He had some experience in that aspect after spending a shortened season as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche while they were in the middle of a rebuild. He also spent several seasons coaching Boston University and led their school to a big turnaround in the standings. The expectation was that Quinn would have his five year contract as the rebuild window to get the Rangers back to the playoffs. However, the Rangers' rebuild timeline was sped up due to the signing of Artemi Panarin and lucking into a few lottery picks at the top of the draft, and according to multiple sources, that culminated in David Quinn being let go today by the Rangers.

The Rangers were good enough to make the playoffs this year, and had they not been in a very strong division, they might have made that next step in the rebuild. The pieces are there though for the ascent to continue next season, and especially with the development of the support pieces, this team should be able to push an aging team out of the playoff picture in 2021-22, regardless of who takes over as the head coach.

There are plenty of veterans on the coaching market, and it could be that Chris Drury dives into the recycling bin trying to find the new bench boss for the Rangers. The playoffs are the goal for the new head coach though, as simple as that.

In the interim, what kind of impact might we expect for the Rangers next season from a fantasy perspective? Well, there is still a lot of time for things to change, with players shuffled in or out, new contracts signed, and of course, a new head coach added. What we do know, is that David Quinn seemed to favour veterans over rookies, and that he was not afraid to shake up the lines if something wasn't sticking. That wasn't great for the development of rookies Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, while it hugely benefitted Colin Blackwell this year as he fit well on a line with Panarin and Ryan Strome. With some increased minutes for the rookies (and possible Filip Chytil as well) we may see others like Colin Blackwell and maybe Chris Kreider playing a little less.

On defence, K'Andre Miller may see his ice time increased, but it's tough to see anything changing with the excellent top pairing of Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox. There are also plenty more prospects pushing for work, including offensive catalysts Vitali Kravstov and Nils Lundkvist.

The biggest change though will be the systems that the new coach brings in, but in the meantime we can deduce that any coaching change can't hurt the rookies any further, and things can't get any better for Colin Blackwood. Not news to overreact to at this point, but something to consider as we enter the offseason.

Players this helps:

Alexis Lafreniere / Kaapo Kakko

Filip Chytil

K'Andre Miller

Players this hurts:

Colin Blackwell

Chris Kreider