The best argument against the Islanders going on a rebuild or retool route over the past three years was always that they did not have a flexible enough cap sheet for it to be possible to do it effectively.

Well, Chris Drury might be about to provide a pretty interesting counterpoint.

Because if the Rangers can move out some of their marquee veterans in what would constitute a retooling of a core that has made two conference finals in three seasons while navigating a cap sheet in which Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere and Adam Fox are signed through at least 2028-29, with Igor Shesterkin potentially soon to follow, that would sort of make you wonder: What if the Islanders had decided back in 2021 that their core had gone as far as it would go?

True, it’s not a like-for-like comparison, but such a thing is never really going to exist.