It’s been a turbulent season for the underperforming New York Rangers, who have made several changes to their roster. One of their acquisitions, Calvin de Haan, hasn’t seen much ice time during his stint with the team. He initially tried to voice his concerns but was silenced by the organization. Instead, he took to Twitter to speak his truth.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the New York Rangers’ 2024–2025 campaign has been a complete miscalculation. After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals last year, many experts and fans believed this would be the Rangers’ year. But with two games remaining in the season, the Rangers have already missed the playoffs. This has only happened four times before: the Buffalo Sabres in 2008, the Boston Bruins in 2015, and the Rangers themselves in 1993 and now in 2025.
Calvin de Haan silenced by Rangers
The 2024–2025 season is one the Rangers will want to forget as soon as possible, marked by underwhelming performances and off-ice drama. However, their March acquisition, Calvin de Haan, only added fuel to the fire. When asked about being a healthy scratch for the last 18 games, he didn’t mince words:
“It’s f-cked,” the 33-year-old said, expressing his frustration and indicating he was willing to speak to the media regarding speculation about the locker room atmosphere.
Shortly afterward, however, he spoke with the Rangers’ PR team and changed his mind. Through team PR, de Haan informed the media that he would wait until the end of the season before speaking publicly.
de Haan’s honest words
Instead of giving a formal interview, de Haan took to X (formerly Twitter) to speak his truth.
”I was hoping that I would have been able to express in a scrum setting versus a quote as I was going onto the ice and having it on the Internet 30 seconds later,” he wrote.
”I said what I said because I am frustrated , and any competitor who says that they would be happy in this position would be lying to you.
”After playing 3 games for the team and going 2-0-1 , I thought I maybe would have got an opportunity to jump into the lineup and help win some games Did I help win those games I played, maybe? Maybe not? But we still won and collected some crucial points to climb the standings. I understand the youth movement in the nhl, and I’m getting older in hockey years and I may not play every single night. I feel like I can still contribute and help teams win.
”I know I’m not going to play 20 minutes a night in the role I’ve been in the past few years , but again I feel like I can still keep up and help a team in certain facets of the game. I’m not trying to be the villain or gain attention or throw shade on the organization , I would have preferred a scrum setting to chat about how my time with the rangers has gone. As a player you have to respect the lineup decisions whether you like them or not, it’s just been frustrating not being able to compete and do what I love to do. I hope everyone understands.”
Calvin de Haan is not the first Ranger this season to speak out about their frustration with how the team has been managed. Former captain Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko, Jimmy Vesey, and Zac Jones have all criticized the Rangers organization during the season.
