One thing other teams different was not hiring Chris Drury to be GM. That's one the entire rest of the league has on this team.
Of course, the Rangers are not the only franchise that seem to mismanage young talent, that today is a league wide issue. And sure, some individuals simply cannot be saved, from themselves or whatever. That happens often enough. But so does mismanagement.
I think some GMs/Coaches and what not believe that learning by osmosis and proximity is more proficient than the long standing human development and maturation process that has, to varying extents, dictated the path of our entire human civilization. The issue is, momentum and environment to an extent. There are very few 18, 19 and 20 year olds, that can be taken out of an environment of their peers, which has been their process of development up to this point, and then thrust into a professional situation, surrounded by vets who have their own lives and who, at this time in their lives, are not generally thinking about, living and breathing hockey to the extent kids do in Jrs, college or even the AHL, relative to the NHL, for a number of reasons. It's the difference between being at Uni or Highschool and learning on the job. I'm sure the people at the job are great and have great advice and could teach these kids a great deal. But that isn't the same as spending 5-9 hours a day, every day basically, hanging out with your friends, talking about hockey, experimenting in hockey, just all on the same development path.
Momentum, environment and timing in the development process are everything. Life just gets more difficult and you gain more responsibility as you get older. And really, that life window matters. A lot