The New York Rangers have made the playoffs in seven consecutive seasons but after coming short of a Stanley Cup once again, the team knows changes are likely coming.

The Rangers were eliminated in Game 6 of their second round series against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. It was an improvement on their first round exit last season, but a disappointment for a team that was two years removed from the Eastern Final and three from a Stanley Cup Final.

Veteran Rick Nash, who's under contract through next season and coming off a 23-goal campaign, was asked how different he expects the team to look in September and responded, "I hope I'm here to see it." Nash added he loves being a Ranger but his future with the team remains in the hands of the team's management.

Captain Ryan McDonagh said Thursday during the team's locker room cleanout that without a title, the team has left themselves open to the front office making changes.

“We have been together for a handful of years and have come close, but this is a results-oriented business,” McDonagh said, per the New York Post. “You’ve got to get results. You want to get that ultimate prize. You know that [front office] is going to do whatever it can to put a team on the ice they think can win. There’s no question it’s something you think about. But it’s out of my control. Over the course of the summer, we’ll see what happens.”

McDonagh was named captain of the team in 2014 after Ryan Callahan was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning the previous season. He's among a core group of players who were the team which reached the Stanley Cup Final earlier in 2014. That group includes Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, Nash, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal and Henrik Lundqvist, among others.

“We’ve been here a long time, the core of us,” Stepan said Thursday. “We understand this world is about winning. As a group, we haven’t been able to do it. We’ve been real good and real close, but that doesn’t do us any good.

“It’s our lives. It’s part of the business, it’s part of the job. It’s all these things that are out of our control. So you think about it, but at the same time, why stress yourself about something you can’t control?”

Head coach Alan Vigneault said Thursday he was 'still shocked' the Rangers had been eliminated and was asked whether the team's core was strong enough for the Rangers to keep it together.

“That’s a good question, it’s a valid question,” Vigneault said. “It’s something that I don’t think I have an answer for you today. But I do think it’s something we’re going to look at.”

This season marked the third straight year the Rangers topped 100 points in the regular season.