New York Rangers Could Acquire Assets for Marc Staal

By finding a new home for defenseman Marc Staal, the New York Rangers might be able to get prospects and picks into the fold.

The New York Rangers are at a crossroads.

With a lot of free agents this offseason, the Rangers, who enter the day with $15.325 million in cap space, assuming the cap stays at $71.4 million, have a lot of decisions to make about their core. The first question that they need to ask is, “who is my core?” The answer you would hope the team has, would include names like Henrik Lundqvist, Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, Ryan McDonagh, and not players like Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, players who once held that role.

The Rangers biggest issue last season was their defense, and that all started with the two of those stalwarts on the Rangers blue line. To improve the team, those two guys, along with Tanner Glass, need to be traded off of the roster to gain more cap space, but also to allow younger guys like Brady Skjei and Dylan McIlrath to get consistent playing time.

We have talked about many times this offseason about how the Rangers rumor mill has been in full swing, and Marc Staal is a player that has not been able to avoid it.

Girardi may not have the most trade value in the world right now, but Staal might. The second eldest in the Staal family, Marc is still looked upon by those in the league as a reliable enough option on the back-end. In a sense, they may be right. Staal played very well this year when Dan Girardi was out of the lineup. The moment Girardi stepped back into the lineup or on Staal’s defensive pair, Staal’s play suffered. Staal ranked 236th out of 277 defensemen this past season in CF% (Corsi for percentage). Girardi ranked 274th (yikes).

So how much trade value will Marc Staal have this offseason? Recent trades throughout the league would indicate that he could potentially bring back a couple of picks or prospects. Here are some trades to consider when talking about a potential Staal deal.

– Kris Russell for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock and a conditional 2nd round pick– The Flames got two solid prospects and a second rounder for Russell, a player who is a lot like Dan Girardi and Marc Staal. Russell’s bread and butter is the ability going down to block shots. Russell’s CF numbers rank him one spot behind Staal (237th out of 277 defensemen). Russell did have 29 and 34 points respectively in his past two seasons in Calgary.

– Mike Weber for a 3rd round pick– Weber is a big bruising defenseman who doesn’t really do much more than that. Weber hasn’t scored more than one goal in a season since 2010-2011. He also is ranked 147th in CF%.

– Roman Polak and Nick Spalling for Raffi Torres’ contract and two 2nd round picks– We all saw Polak’s play in the finals, nothing better than an average defender. 137th overall in CF%, Polak had only one goal last season, which continues to prove my point.

– Erik Gudbranson for Jared McCann, a 2nd round pick and a 4th round pick– Gudbranson is another guy like Mike Weber but trades CF% (he is ranked 213th) for goals (9 combined in the past three seasons). Gudbranson is a big hulking 6’ 5” defender who instills fear into the opponent.

– Kevin Bieksa for a 2nd round pick– Bieksa has close to the same traditional stats that Staal has a much better rank in CF% (98th). Bieksa was 34 at the time of the trade

– John-Michael Lyles for a 3rd rounder, 5th rounder, and prospect Anthony Camara– Lyles had a very good season before the trade with six goals and 15 points in 64 games with a top 65 among defenseman in CF%. Before this season, his career numbers were much worse than Staal’s. If ¾ of a season can recoup that many assets, it has to make you feel good about a potential Staal trade.

So with all of the moves in mind, what can Staal get the Rangers in a trade?

Staal brings about the same—if not better—offensive game that most of those guys bring to the table. When away from Girardi, he plays solid enough. He is an assistant captain and undeniably brings leadership to the room.

The one thing that could hurt the Rangers chances of dealing Staal is his $5.7 million cap hit. All of those guys had lesser cap hits. For the Rangers to get Staal’s full trade value, they may have to take back some of his salary in a deal. If they don’t maybe, they can get a solid enough prospect and a late 2nd round, high 3rd round pick for him. If they do choose to take back some salary— not the maximum 50%–there is no doubt in my mind that they can get a prospect and a second round pick, or multiple 2nd round picks back.

Next: New York Rangers would be dumb to trade Derek Stepan

Ultimately, Staal has a no-movement clause in his contract, but if the team says they don’t want him anymore, it is hard to imagine a player as prideful as Staal wanting to remain with the team, unless the trade would land him on a team in the midst of a rebuild.