Theo Fleury. (AP)

1998-99 record: 33-38-11, 77 points, 4th Atlantic Division
Coach: John Muckler (41-53-13, two seasons with Rangers)
New faces: G Kirk McLean, D Sylvain Lefebvre, D Stephane Quintal, LW Pavel Brendl, LW Valeri Kamensky, C Tim Taylor, RW Theo Fleury, RW Jan Hlavac
Losses: C Wayne Gretzky, D Jeff Beukeboom, D Chris Tamer, RW Scott Fraser, RW Niklas Sundstrom, G Dan Cloutier
Strengths: Oh, the luxury of having a pocket full of blank checks. Having missed the playoffs each of the past two seasons, the Rangers dusted off their wallet and unloaded more than $60 million to add free agents McLean, Lefebvre, Quintal, Kamensky, Taylor and Fleury. That figure does not include the money needed to re-sign Ds Brian Leetch and Mathieu Schneider and LW Adam Graves. Lost amid the avalanche of cash was GM Neil Smith's draft day trades that enabled New York to select Brendl and highly touted C Jamie Lundmark. Graves bounced back from a dismal season with 38 goals. G Mike Richter also enjoyed a bounce-back campaign. Only Martin Brodeur and Guy Hebert played more games, and only Hebert and Curtis Joseph faced more shots. Behind the Rangers' revamped defense, Richter should be even better.
Weaknesses: Despite all the offseason moves, the Rangers went to training camp without a No. 2 center. Coach John Muckler might be forced to use a winger up the middle. All that cash is going to create big expectations among the rabid Madison Square Garden faithful, especially after missing the playoffs two years in a row for the first time since 1975-76 and 1976-77. Even Muckler admits the retirement of Gretzky will have a negative effect on the team. If nothing else, it puts more pressure on C Petr Nedved. Someone also must step up and provide leadership. The natural choice would be Leetch as a 13-year veteran, but he's not the rah-rah type. Down the road, the Rangers are hoping C Manny Malhotra will fill the role. One of the persistent questions as training camp opened was how all the veteran free agents would jell.
Muckler says: "We're going to make some changes. We'll be a stronger forechecking club than we were last year. We should have more speed, at least we feel we do. Our offense should be better than it was last year. In behind the blue line, I think we have more mobility and should have an easier time getting out of our zone. The chemistry we had on our team last year, I thought was very good. Our work habits were very good. I think we have the foundation for good chemistry."