Just over four years ago in February 2018, the New York Rangers and then-general manager Jeff Gorton penned a cute little letter to their fans saying that it was time to restock the cupboards and embark on a rebuild.

The Henrik Lundqvist era was creaking to a shut, they were no longer a threat in the east, and there was nothing imminent to suggest that was going to change.

They had an excellent run, though.

From 2005-2017, the Rangers only missed the playoffs once, made three Conference Finals appearances, and earned a trip to the Stanley Cup final in 2014. They were never able to win the Cup on the back of Henrik Lundqvist’s broad shoulders, Rangers fans wouldn’t have a ton to complain about over that time frame.

Fast forward to today and New York now sits comfortably among the elite in the Eastern Conference with a 31-13-4 record, have one of the best goalies in the league, the world’s most proficient bread man, and the NHL’s reigning Norris winner. It doesn’t hurt when Mika Zibanejad is your second best forward, either.

Rostering elite players at each of center, wing, defense, and goalie are the minimum to compete for a Cup these days, and the Rangers certainly meet that threshold.

I always enjoy diving into rebuilds, but let’s get one thing straight: due to the uniqueness of New York’s market – one of the league’s most desirable free agent locations – and some outrageous draft lottery luck, this rebuild was anything but normal.

So how did they get there?