Rangers' Chris Drury on when club will be contenders: 'I'm not gonna sit here and put a time on anything.'

It certainly was a crazy week for Rangers general manager Chris Drury, who made eight trades in a six-day span beginning last Friday and signed three new players when the NHL’s free-agent signing period began on Wednesday.

“Yeah, it’s been a busy time,’’ Drury said Thursday in a Zoom call with reporters. “We were excited and fortunate to get a lot done in the last few months, and certainly in the last couple weeks.’’

The two biggest trades Drury made were the bombshell acquisition of sniper Pavel Dorofeyev from Vegas last Friday, just minutes after the NHL Draft began, and Wednesday’s long-awaited export of Olympic gold medalist Vincent Trocheck to Utah.

Drury also traded for Vancouver defenseman Marcus Pettersson and made two deals with Boston, acquiring backup goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in one and shipping out defenseman Will Borgen in the other.

The moves have significantly reshaped the Rangers’ roster, and there’s no question they are a more talented and balanced group on paper after finishing dead last in the Eastern Conference last season.

But after a two-year playoff absence, are these changes enough to spark a postseason return?

That remains to be seen.

Drury, asked if he felt pressure to put a group together that can challenge for a playoff spot next season, declined to set expectations.

“As I’ve said in the past, I’m not gonna sit here and put a time on anything,’’ he said. “The only timeline I operate on is trying to get better every single day and look at ways to get the team better every single day. And we’ll continue to do that.

“Certainly, we’re excited to add the pieces we did. We think they’re real good players and real good additions to our team, and exciting pieces as part of this retool.’’

On paper, the defense, with the addition of the 6-5 Pettersson, who played parts of seven seasons under coach Mike Sullivan with Pittsburgh, and 6-1 Sean Durzi, acquired in the Trocheck deal along with prospect Cole Beaudoin and a third-round draft pick, looks better than last season.

Pettersson, 30, a lefthanded shot, led Vancouver in blocked shots last season with 136 and was second in average ice time (21:27). He will slot in as the second-pair left defenseman and should be an upgrade over Carson Soucy, who started in that role last season.

Durzi, 27, a righthanded shot, had five goals and 27 points in 60 games for Utah and is a more consistent offensive contributor than Borgen (five goals, 15 points in 75 games), whom he replaces. Durzi likely will be the point man for the second power-play unit, something the Rangers lacked all of last season.

Braden Schneider, a restricted free agent, is still on the roster and looks as if he’ll be back despite having been thought to be on the trading block. If he returns, he would reprise his role as the third-pair right defenseman, and it’s possible he could have an exciting newcomer, first-round pick Alberts Smits, as his partner.

Smits, 18, taken with the No. 5 overall pick last Friday, was considered the most NHL-ready among the group of elite defensemen available in the draft. Rangers director of player development Tanner Glass agrees with that.

“He’s got some habits just that you see in people that are much more mature,’’ Glass said. “The way he surrounds the puck, the way he moves the puck, the way he kind of commands the ice. He’s confident in his abilities and he’s got a commanding presence on the ice, which is really nice to see at that age.’’

But if the defense looks improved, the forward group — with Dorofeyev, who agreed to a seven-year, $77 million deal Wednesday, and free-agent signing Oliver Bjorkstrand replacing Artemi Panarin and Trocheck in the top six — doesn’t.

Dorofeyev, 25, had 35 and 37 goals in the last two seasons and 12 goals in the playoffs this spring. But he’s not the play driver Panarin was for the Rangers.

Bjorkstrand, 31, has six 20-goal seasons on his resume. Trocheck, 33 on July 12, has seven.

Of course, Drury is not quite done with his offseason work. He still needs to re-sign Schneider (or trade him), and there may be some smaller moves to be made before training camp opens in September. According to PuckPedia, the Rangers have approximately $7.9 million in room under the salary cap.

On Thursday, they signed two more players, defenseman Dennis Cholowski and forward Glenn Gawdin. Both figure to be playing for Hartford next season.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.