3 Major Rangers Takeaways: Distracting trade rumors, PP woes continue and more from 4-3 loss to Hurricanes 

The New York Rangers entered Raleigh amidst a cloud of uncertainty thanks to recent reports that they could be looking to trade captain Jacob Trouba and long-tenured forward and veteran Chris Kreider.

Nevertheless, there was business to attend to as the Rangers took on the Carolina Hurricanes in a divisional matchup at Lenovo Center. When it was all said and done, the Hurricanes emerged victorious with the two points thanks to a 4-3 win.

Jack Drury gave the Hurricanes the 1-0 lead early in the first period, only to have Jonny Brodzinski respond with his second goal of the season later in the period.

In the second period, the Hurricanes would strike early thanks to a power-play goal from Martin Necas just 1:13 into the middle frame. New York's Brett Berard would knot the score at 2-2 with his first goal, followed by Adam Edstrom's second goal to give New York the lead.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, the lead wouldn't hold. Jesperi Kotkaniemi tied things up midway through the third, followed by a power-play goal from Jackson Blake just minutes later.

The Hurricanes held on for the 4-3 victory despite the Rangers furiously attempting to knot the score late in regulation. The win improved Carolina's record to 16-5-1, while the Rangers fell to 12-8-1, losing their fourth straight game.

Here's a closer look at the key takeaways from Wednesday night's setback for the Rangers against the Hurricanes.

3 major takeaways from New York Rangers' 4-3 loss to Carolina Hurricanes

#3. Power play woes continue

The Rangers continued to fail to generate anything meaningful with the man advantage and were unable to find the back of the net on either opportunity they had with a Hurricanes player in the penalty box.

Considering the Rangers lost by one goal, that especially stings.

#2. New York's big guns were silent

All of New York's offense came from secondary scoring, while the likes of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere were unable to play a role.

While getting secondary scoring is always a positive, the Rangers needed their best players to step up in their battle against the Hurricanes, but it didn't happen.

#1. Trade rumors are impossibe not to be a distraction

Not only has Rangers GM Chris Drury indicated to the rest of the NHL that he's looking to make changes to their roster, but he's also done it in a public way that likely can't go unnoticed by the players.

With the two players in question being a pair of leaders on the squad in Trouba and Kreider, the rest of the team might be excused for having thoughts of having to soon say goodbye to their teammates in the near future.

The Rangers' heads appeared to be elsewhere on Wednesday against the Hurricanes, and that was likely a major factor.

The Rangers will look to bounce back when they face the Philadlephia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Friday.