Chris Drury was talking to me via his cell while he drove to Boston to take in Rangers-Bruins last May 6, the day after he was named the club president and general manager following the unexpected dismissals of John Davidson and Jeff Gorton. 

“I’m certainly not going to be hanging around the locker room every single day, but I’m going to be there enough to have the pulse of the team from the inside rather than looking at it from 10 floors up,” Drury said. “I think that’s important for me and the team.” 

Never is that more important than now as the trade deadline is about to strike at 3 p.m. Monday. For Drury must not only divine the team’s needs on the ice but in attempting to fill those holes he must be careful not to disturb the camaraderie and chemistry of this group of his that seems inordinately close and cohesive. 

The Rangers swept the weekend challenge, 2-1 in Tampa Bay on Saturday behind Igor Shesterkin before 2-0 in Carolina on Sunday behind Alexandar Georgiev in what was nothing less than a vernal equinox miracle. There is hardly a more rational explanation for this victory in which the Blueshirts were out-attempted 94-36 for the match. 

This represented the most attempts against a Rangers team since the Maple Leafs unleashed 104 toward the net nearly three years ago to the day, March 23, 2019, in, yes (and it counts) a 2-1 victory in Toronto behind … Georgiev. And it represented the third-highest total of attempts against the Blueshirts since Natural Stat Trick began tracking the numbers in 2007-08. 

The 2011-12 Black-and-Blueshirts lived this way en route to the second-best record in the NHL, comfortable being pinned in for shifts at a time. This group isn’t built that way. But this is as resilient a bunch as that team. Hours from the deadline, Drury must keep his trust with a team that left the ice with the sixth-best record in the league by points percentage. The GM must walk the fine line between providing the team with help and upsetting the environment. Sometimes less is more. 

According to several sources, Winnipeg’s versatile forward Andrew Copp has emerged as the name most associated with the Blueshirts as the hours tick away. The 27-year-old pending free agent is a middle-sixer who can probably play up in certain situations. He would fit into head coach Gerard Gallant’s wheelhouse. 

But there will be competition for Copp, just as there was competition for Seattle defenseman Mark Giordano, who on Sunday went to Toronto; and just as there was competition for Ottawa winger Nick Paul, who hours later went to Tampa Bay. 

Here’s another question: How many middle-sixers do the Rangers need? If they acquire a top-six type such as Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell, around whom noise has quieted, then someone currently in the top six would move down. If Alexis Lafreniere is bumped from the top line, he presumably would return to left wing on the third line. So what of Barclay Goodrow? 

How ready will Kaapo Kakko be for the grind when (it is, “when,” correct?) he returns from the injury that has sidelined him for eight-plus weeks and 21 games? Will he reclaim his top-six role? If so, where would that leave Frank Vatrano, who has brought speed and energy to the Artemi Panarin-Ryan Strome connection and was entrusted to be on the ice as the right wing with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider after the ’Canes pulled their goaltender. Of course, Vatrano would score the empty-netter to seal it. So if Copp and/or Rakell is acquired — or say, Dallas’ Alexander Radulov, Arizona’s Phil Kessel or Vancouver’s Tyler Motte — where would everyone slot? What about the fourth line? 

As Jaromir Jagr once famously said when he was facing unrestricted free agency and the option to go to Omsk of the KHL following 2007-08, “If you have too many choices, it is easier to make the wrong one.” 

Drury is expected to add depth on defense to gird for the possibility — inevitability, really — of injuries during a long postseason run. The Blueshirts currently have Libor Hajek, Zac Jones and Jarred Tinordi as protection on the left and Nils Lundkvist (and Jones) as protection on the right side. Chicago’s Calvin de Haan and Montreal’s Brett Kulak are lefties on the market while Philadelphia’s Justin Braun and Buffalo’s Colin Miller are righty rentals on the block. 

As admirable as this team has been, the Rangers do not strike me as a top-tier contender. But I would say that if Vancouver changes course and makes J.T. Miller available, he is the guy. Because maybe the Blueshirts are not all that far away. 

Here’s the thing. We pick and pick and pick at them. We see their deficiencies every night. They have scored two goals or fewer in 10 of their last 16 games. But they are also 11-5 in their games against the East’s other seven playoff-bound teams. How about that? 

The Rangers could use fortification. It is on Drury to provide that without jeopardizing the Zeitgeist of this group that has allowed it to thrive. He is on the clock.