The departure of Keith Yandle from the New York Rangers lineup was met with controversy. The team is doing just fine without him, and it is making people wonder if indeed Jeff Gorton made the right move.
Many New York Rangers fans were understandably upset when the team traded soon-to-be unrestricted free agent defenseman Keith Yandle to the Flordia Panthers for two mid round picks. Yandle led the Rangers in assists last year with 42, and at times was the team’s best overall defender–although he too had his fair share of defensive miscues as well.
The team, which was cap-strapped, to say the least in the offseason, let the 30-year-old go on the free agent market and eventually sign a 7 year, $44.4 million dollar contract with the Panthers.
Fast forward to today, the day Yandle–and coincidentally his new teammate Dylan McIlrath–return to Madison Square Garden and the Rangers front office looks brilliant for letting him walk.
And it’s not so much about what Yandle has done so far, but more about what the Rangers have been able to do since Yandle’s move to South Beach.
Letting Yandle go allowed General Manager Jeff Gorton to go out and completely revamp the offense with youth and speed. The team since has acquired Jimmy Vesey, Michael Grabner, Brandon Pirri, Mika Zibanejad–a trade they probably wouldn’t have made had Yandle’s money been on the books, since Zibanejad’s contract expires at the end of the season and is expected to get a healthy raise. They also brought in Nick Holden, who has been better of late and let’s not forget Adam Clendening, who looked great when he was in the lineup–and deserves to be playing now, in my opinion.
The team also brought in Nick Holden, who has been better of late. Let’s not forget Adam Clendening as well, who looked great when he was in the lineup–and deserves to be playing now, in my opinion.
All of that, along with an increased role for Brady Skjei has equated to the New York Rangers getting off to a 13-5 start to lead the Metropolitan Division nearly two months into the season.
Keith Yandle has been receiving the second most minutes per game (22:30) on the Flordia Panthers this season behind former first overall pick Aaron Ekblad (23:01). There is no doubt that his role in Florida has expanded, but his production is staying consistent with what he did in his smaller role in New York.
Yandle has 0 goals and 9 assists on the season. Those 9 assists allow for him to be the leader in that category for his team, but that rank would only tie for 5th place on the Rangers with Derek Stepan. Two of those 4 ahead of him are fellow defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Brady Skjei.
Yes, Yandle is a better player offensively than both McDonagh and Skjei, regardless of what the stats say, but the point here is the Rangers are getting production from other places on the defense, and all throughout the lineup as well.
If you were to sign Yandle to a contract similar to what the Panthers gave him, you would be signing him because of what his production will be those first few years anyway, although you’d have to give him those last few years because teams were throwing years at him like Aroldis Champman throws fastballs.
This is a cap age, so even though Yandle is great right now, it would hurt the team to have that cap hit that he carries on the books.
And that’s not to say the Panthers made a mistake signing him. In their situation, it made a lot of sense hockey wise and cap wise. It wouldn’t have made any sense for the Rangers cap wise.
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Yandle was a fantastic player for the Rangers in his time here, but the team made the right move. After months of not being able to see it, both the fan base and NHL writers everywhere are starting to see the light.