If this is truly to be a retool and not a rebuild for the Rangers, some of the organization’s most important assets are not the ones to be used as trade bait. 

It is the marquee players who are signed to long-term contracts with no-move clauses that allow them to dictate their fate should they decide to intervene. 

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Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad and Vladislav Gavrikov are the “core players” who president and general manager Chris Drury intend to build around, as stated in the Letter 2.0 released in January. Each is signed through at least the 2028-29 season, with Shesterkin and Gavrikov committed the longest through 2030-31. 

Their allegiance to seeing this retool through could either make or break the Blueshirts.