First came the letter, one authored by Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton and then-team president Glen Sather, in which they let New York know that pain was on the way in the form of a rebuild with both eyes fixed on the future. Then came the easy part, tearing everything down to the foundation.

Here comes the hard part -- building the place back up.

In Gorton, the Rangers appear to have the foreman right for the job. He's carefully navigated this rebuild thus far, often turning difficult decisions into rewarding opportunities.

He's staffing the site well, using a wide array of mechanisms to find top-of-the-lineup talent to don those fabled blue shirts, and sizing up prospects in the NHL Draft to join their ranks.

Last year saw two players from their No. 1-ranked system graduate to the professional ranks in Kaapo Kakko, Adam Fox, and Libor Hájek -- not to mention Igor Shestyorkin if we stray from Calder Trophy-eligibility as the marker of a prospect. There are even more Rangers set to cross the stage this season, with Shestyorkin and Julien Gauthier right on the cusp, Alexis Lafrenière a virtual lock for the opening night roster, and K'Andre Miller in contention for a spot on their wide-open left-side.

This team has spared no expense in building for the future, and the future is now.