Some might see the three-week Olympic break and 11 days off from the ice as delaying the inevitable for the Rangers amid what has been a tough season.
A lifted roster freeze awaits when the season resumes Feb. 26, and a trade deadline of March 6 that will likely shake things up once again in New York is not too far behind.
However, the players aren’t looking that far ahead. What they needed in the short term was a break, and it was welcomed for both mental and physical rest.
“Yeah, it was definitely good,” Will Cuylle, who spent a portion of the break at home in Toronto, told The Post on Tuesday following the first team practice of non-Olympians since the start of the break. “I think in any long season, it’s good to have a break. It can be hard on your body. Eighty-two games is a lot of games. So you just try to reset and come back fresh.”
To Brennan Othmann, who split time between Florida and home in Ontario, the break provides the Rangers an opportunity to treat the remaining 25 games as a new season.
“I think it’s just been an up-and-down year for everybody,” Othmann told The Post. “At the start of the year, I don’t think anyone really figured we would be in this position, but I think it’s good just to kind of get away and reset and not worry about where we were at and everything. It’s almost like a fresh season right now and hopefully we can turn all these negatives, you want to call it, and turn them into positives after this little break.”
“I think it’s good you get that break. Even if it’s for five days, it’s nice to get away,” he added.
Heading into the shutdown, the Rangers tallied just three wins in their prior 18 games (3-13-2) and sank to the bottom of the Eastern Conference at 22-29-6.
It all ended in a 2-0 home loss to the Hurricanes, which marked their ninth shutout loss of the season and seventh on the Madison Square Garden ice.
On top of that, the Rangers also dealt leading scorer Artemi Panarin to the Kings two days ahead of the roster freeze in exchange for forward Liam Greentree (a 2024 first-round pick) and a conditional third-round pick.
The poor play came down to what Cuylle attributed to “a lot of things.”
“I feel like execution can be better, speed, playing with more passion, I feel like,” he added. “You know, we’ll see what happens. I feel like the break should help bring some of that back.”
The Rangers already have two early positives coming out of their first practice in Tarrytown.
Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin, who both suffered lower-body injuries during a 3-2 overtime loss to Utah on Jan. 5, were on the ice and in full-contact jerseys during what Cuylle described as a “good” and “competitive” first skate.
Outside of coach Mike Sullivan, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller being in Milan, Adam Edstrom wasn’t in attendance due to personal reasons.
“It’s nice to see some faces you haven’t seen in a while… It’s good group camaraderie seeing those guys out there on the ice,” Othmann said. “They’re important players for our team and we’re happy that they’re healthy and happy that we’re all back together.”
The Rangers resume the season against the Flyers to kick off a four-game homestand.
Brett Berard and Brendan Brisson were recalled from Hartford ahead of Tuesday’s practice.
