# 2004–05 New York Rangers season

The 2004–05 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 79th season; however, its games were cancelled as the 2004–05 NHL lockout could not be resolved in time.

## Off-season

On July 6, 2004, it was announced that Tom Renney would remain the head coach of the Rangers.

## Schedule

The Rangers preseason and regular season schedules were announced on July 13 and July 14, 2004, respectively.
2004–05 schedule :
Preseason
GameDateOpponent
1September 23New York Islanders
2September 26@ New York Islanders
3September 28@ New Jersey Devils
4September 30New Jersey Devils
5October 2@ Boston Bruins
6October 5Boston Bruins
7October 6@ Columbus Blue Jackets
8October 8@ Minnesota Wild
9October 10@ Detroit Red Wings :
Regular season
GameDateOpponent
1October 15Pittsburgh Penguins
2October 16@ Pittsburgh Penguins
3October 20Philadelphia Flyers
4October 23Atlanta Thrashers
5October 25San Jose Sharks
6October 29@ Pittsburgh Penguins
7October 30@ Toronto Maple Leafs
8November 1Los Angeles Kings
9November 3Boston Bruins
10November 5Florida Panthers
11November 6@ Ottawa Senators
12November 8Nashville Predators
13November 11Toronto Maple Leafs
14November 13Buffalo Sabres
15November 15@ New York Islanders
16November 17@ Atlanta Thrashers
17November 19@ Buffalo Sabres
18November 20@ Montreal Canadiens
19November 22New York Islanders
20November 24@ Carolina Hurricanes
21November 26@ Washington Capitals
22November 28Pittsburgh Penguins
23December 1@ New Jersey Devils
24December 2@ Philadelphia Flyers
25December 4New Jersey Devils
26December 6Ottawa Senators
27December 9Washington Capitals
28December 11@ New Jersey Devils
29December 12Boston Bruins
30December 14@ Washington Capitals
31December 17New York Islanders
32December 18@ Philadelphia Flyers
33December 21@ Atlanta Thrashers
34December 23Florida Panthers
35December 26@ Buffalo Sabres
36December 31@ Florida Panthers
37January 1@ Tampa Bay Lightning
38January 3Anaheim Mighty Ducks
39January 6Columbus Blue Jackets
40January 8@ Boston Bruins
41January 10Montreal Canadiens
42January 13Phoenix Coyotes
43January 15Pittsburgh Penguins
44January 18@ Ottawa Senators
45January 20New Jersey Devils
46January 22Philadelphia Flyers
47January 24St. Louis Blues
48January 25@ New York Islanders
49January 27Atlanta Thrashers
50January 29@ Montreal Canadiens
51February 2@ Vancouver Canucks
52February 3@ Calgary Flames
53February 5@ Edmonton Oilers
54February 8Toronto Maple Leafs
55February 10@ New Jersey Devils
56February 16@ Minnesota Wild
57February 17@ Columbus Blue Jackets
58February 19Philadelphia Flyers
59February 21Chicago Blackhawks
60February 23Tampa Bay Lightning
61February 26@ Pittsburgh Penguins
62February 27Colorado Avalanche
63March 2Carolina Hurricanes
64March 5@ New York Islanders
65March 7Washington Capitals
66March 9@ Dallas Stars
67March 11@ Anaheim Mighty Ducks
68March 13@ San Jose Sharks
69March 16New Jersey Devils
70March 18Buffalo Sabres
71March 19@ Toronto Maple Leafs
72March 22Carolina Hurricanes
73March 25New York Islanders
74March 26@ Detroit Red Wings
75March 28Montreal Canadiens
76March 30@ Florida Panthers
77March 31@ Tampa Bay Lightning
78April 2@ Carolina Hurricanes
79April 4Tampa Bay Lightning
80April 6Ottawa Senators
81April 7@ Philadelphia Flyers
82April 9@ Boston Bruins :

## Transactions

The Rangers were involved in the following transactions from June 8, 2004, the day after the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, through February 16, 2005, the day the 2004–05 season was officially cancelled.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 26, 2004 (2004-06-26) | To New York Rangers 1st-round pick in 20048th-round pick in 2004 | To Calgary Flames 1st-round pick in 20042nd-round pick in 2004 |
| June 26, 2004 (2004-06-26) | To New York Rangers 2nd-round pick in 20043rd-round pick in 2004 | To Florida Panthers 2nd-round pick in 2004 |
| June 26, 2004 (2004-06-26) | To New York Rangers 2nd-round pick in 20043rd-round pick in 2004 | To Phoenix Coyotes 2nd-round pick in 2004 |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 20, 2004 (2004-07-20) | Trevor Gillies | Springfield Falcons (AHL) | | Free agency |
| July 20, 2004 (2004-07-20) | Jason Strudwick | Chicago Blackhawks | | Free agency |
| July 22, 2004 (2004-07-22) | Jeff MacMillan | Dallas Stars | | Free agency |
| August 10, 2004 (2004-08-10) | Michael Nylander | Boston Bruins | 3-year | Free agency |
| August 25, 2004 (2004-08-25) | Jason Marshall | San Jose Sharks | | Free agency |
| August 26, 2004 (2004-08-26) | Kevin Weekes | Carolina Hurricanes | | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Bobby Andrews | | Contract expiration (VI) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Pavel Bure | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Eric Lindros | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Sandy McCarthy | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Mark Messier | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01) | Boris Mironov | | Contract expiration (III) |
| July 2, 2004 (2004-07-02) | Jamie McLennan | Florida Panthers | Free agency (III) |
| July 14, 2004 (2004-07-14) | Cory Larose | Atlanta Thrashers | Free agency (VI) |
| July 28, 2004 (2004-07-28) | Jason MacDonald | Toronto Maple Leafs | Free agency |
| August 2, 2004 (2004-08-02) | Mike Green | Nurnberg Ice Tigers (DEL) | Free agency (II) |
| August 2, 2004 (2004-08-02) | Jeff Paul | Washington Capitals | Free agency (VI) |
| August 6, 2004 (2004-08-06) | Jan Hlavac | HC Sparta Praha (ELH) | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 9, 2004 (2004-08-09) | Jamie Pushor | Syracuse Crunch (AHL) | Free agency (III) |
| August 11, 2004 (2004-08-11) | Matt Kinch | EC Red Bull Salzburg (EBEL) | Free agency (II) |
| August 19, 2004 (2004-08-19) | Jeff Heerema | Vancouver Canucks | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 24, 2004 (2004-08-24) | Benoit Dusablon | Montreal Canadiens | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 27, 2004 (2004-09-27) | Josh Green | Manitoba Moose (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| N/A | John Jakopin | HDD Olimpija Ljubljana (SIHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| November 1, 2004 (2004-11-01) | Dan LaCouture | Providence Bruins (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| January 7, 2005 (2005-01-07) | Chris McAllister | Newcastle Vipers (BNL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| March 17, 2005 (2005-03-17) | Joel Bouchard | Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 22, 2004 (2004-07-22) | Lucas Lawson | | Re-signing |
| July 22, 2004 (2004-07-22) | Karel Rachunek | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 27, 2004 (2004-07-27) | Dale Purinton | | Re-signing |
| July 29, 2004 (2004-07-29) | Dan Blackburn | | Re-signing |
| July 29, 2004 (2004-07-29) | David Liffiton | | Entry-level |
| August 3, 2004 (2004-08-03) | Dwight Helminen | | Entry-level |
| August 4, 2004 (2004-08-04) | Jake Taylor | | Entry-level |
| August 10, 2004 (2004-08-10) | Jamie Lundmark | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 11, 2004 (2004-08-11) | Martin Grenier | | Re-signing |
| August 11, 2004 (2004-08-11) | Layne Ulmer | | Re-signing |
| August 18, 2004 (2004-08-18) | Chad Wiseman | | Re-signing |
| September 1, 2004 (2004-09-01) | Nigel Dawes | | Entry-level |
| September 14, 2004 (2004-09-14) | Lee Falardeau | | Entry-level |
| September 15, 2004 (2004-09-15) | Ivan Baranka | | Entry-level |

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 2004 NHL entry draft in Raleigh, North Carolina at the RBC Center.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 6 | Al Montoya | G | United States | University of Michigan (CCHA) |
| 1 | 19 | Lauri Korpikoski | LW | Finland | TPS Jr. (Finland Jr.) |
| 2 | 36 | Darin Olver | C | Canada | Northern Michigan University (CCHA) |
| 2 | 48 | Dane Byers | LW | Canada | Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) |
| 2 | 51 | Bruce Graham | C | Canada | Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) |
| 2 | 60 | Brandon Dubinsky | C | United States | Portland Winter Hawks (WHL) |
| 3 | 73 | Zdenek Bahensky | RW | Czech Republic | HC Chemopetrol Jr. (Czech Republic) |
| 3 | 80 | Billy Ryan | C | United States | Cushing Academy (USHS) |
| 4 | 127 | Ryan Callahan | RW | United States | Guelph Storm (OHL) |
| 5 | 135 | Roman Psurny | LW | Czech Republic | Zlín Jr. (Czech Jr.) |
| 6 | 169 | Jordan Foote | LW | Canada | Nanaimo Clippers (BCHL) |
| 8 | 247 | Jonathan Paiement | D | Canada | Lewiston Maineiacs (QMJHL) |
| 9 | 266 | Jakub Petruzalek | RW | Czech Republic | HC Chemopetrol Jr. (Czech Republic) |