New York Rangers Should Part Ways with Dominic Moore

After the publication of this article, I fully expect to be the most hated New York Rangers fan in the United States. I’m okay with that, I’ll get over it and live to see another day. Mostly because the current state of the Rangers bankroll is in severe peril and someone must speak up with some sort of level head.

I’m going to come right out and say it. It’s time for Dominic Moore to go. Trade him, release him, tell him to “Call Tyrone” and show him the door. It’s hard to say that, it’s hard to hear that, but it’s necessary.

In the midst of this salary cap malaise that the Rangers find themselves in, one thing is crystal clear about this roster. It is chock full of talent, chock full of “luxury players.” Valuable, at a premium, each of these players have come through at one time or another, however never as consistently as the players who comprise the hardwire of this team.

Be it Dan Boyle with his leadership over the defense, Tanner Glass who always has a knack of when to drop the gloves and get his team riled up, or J.T. Miller whose eight points in last year’s playoffs proved invaluable to a team who had trouble putting the puck in the net. All valuable, all could be traded by the end of the off-season to clear up cap space.

May 22, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Rangers center Dominic Moore (28) works out prior to game four of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

But if you are going to trade those players under the notion of cap room, one has to argue why not Dominic Moore? Particularly when you traded Carl Hagelin and Cam Talbot for players, that are AT BEST unproven under the notion of being tight for money. While I know people have an emotional attachment to him for being a stand-up guy, as the story goes of how he skipped a season to tend to his ailing wife Katie, who would eventually succumb to liver cancer after a short tragic battle. Moore started up a charitable organization in her name. Such acts are rare among professional athletes these days and I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this about the guy, particularly when my last article was advocating for a certain underachieving cocaine possessing center.

That being said, the New York Rangers are not in the business of being a charitable organization; They are in the hockey business. Their job is to win.

Remember folks, this is a CAPITALIST society, the road to hell is paved in good intentions under this system. You are measured in dollars by productivity, not altruism. Professional sport is no different aside from Wall Street and Madison Avenue Professional sports stands as the most cut-throat example of this metric in which we measure the value of a man.

Moore is in the last year of his latest deal with the Rangers, as he is owed $1.5 million this year. For a team that still has four important pieces to sign (Etem, Stepan, Miller and Diaz) and one not-so important piece (Stalberg) but crunched by cap space, $1.5 million is a lot of dollars.

New York Rangers

I know the Rangers drafted him. I know he’s an emotional piece to the fan base, But WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY? We got rid of him the first time, traded him to Pittsburgh, he spent the next several years bouncing to Minnesota, Toronto, Buffalo, Montreal, Florida, Tampa Bay, San Jose back to us. None of these teams could justify him, in spite of him being one of those players that has those brief flashes of greatness. Yes he scored the only goal against Montreal two years ago that took the Rangers to the cup against the Kings. What have you done for me lately?

For a player that gets the attention he does, you would think he’d be the first line center. 27 measly points in the regular season last year in 82 games – 13 games of which second line center Derek Stepan was hurt. He could have done better but instead that opportunity was taken by a natural left winger, Kevin Hayes, a rookie at the time. Veterans are supposed to be the ones to step up. Three piddly points in the playoffs in spite of the series against the Penguins where the Pens were penalized over 10 times in the first two games alone. The power play line was Moore’s line. Three piddly points and we are scratching our heads and wondering why the Rangers only scored two goals in three-quarters of the playoffs last year?

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