New York Rangers: Smith was a Solid Pickup, but More Moves are Needed
The New York Rangers made a solid addition to their defensive unit on Tuesday, acquiring defenseman Brendan Smith from Detroit. While he will help, more moves will need to be made to help this team reach contender status.
The New York Rangers made a savvy move on Tuesday by acquiring defenseman Brendan Smith from the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for two draft picks.
The initial reaction of the Rangers fan base was to instantly poopoo this move. The Rangers gave up more than just the reported 2nd round pick that was said to be Detroit’s asking price. They gave up a third round pick as well. Of course we don’t know what the actual asking price was off the bat so all we can go with is how much it did end up costing them.
And the concern was understandable. The Rangers have gone all in for about four straight deadlines now, draft picks are at a premium for the franchise with arguably the worst farm system in hockey.
But after giving this trade time to marinate, you can’t really knock either team for making it.
A Reasonable Overpay
For the Rangers, they get a huge upgrade on defense not only this year, but in the future, as it looks like there is mutual interest in getting a contract done after the expansion draft–so he wouldn’t be draft eligible.
For the Wings, they are gonna miss the playoffs for the first time in 20-something years this season and they got a coup for a guy who is probably a second pair defender at best.
The point here is not if the Rangers overpaid. They did, and Jeff Gorton said it really well with this comment on the trade yesterday.
"The market in general, if you want a player in this market, generally you are going to overpay and that is the way it is if you look at all the trades."
If the Rangers either (A make a deep playoff run and/or (B re-sign him in the offseason, the trade would certainly be worth it. If not, it was a waste of assets.
Where Does He Fit on the Blueline?
Unless the Rangers go out today and acquire another defenseman who can play the right side, it would make sense to throw Smith on a pairing with Ryan McDonagh.
Related: What Brendan Smith Can Bring to NYR
McDonagh and Smith–and Derek Stepan, for what it’s worth–played together in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. That familiarity will help him gel with the team a little bit quicker, so it makes sense for the Rangers.
Smith is a lefty but he has played on the right side for a fair amount of his NHL career and feels very comfortable there. Ideally, you would like a righty playing the right side, but if you are the Rangers, you need to take what you can get to help their porous defense.
What Does This Mean For the Rest of the Deadline?
Now with eight defensemen at the NHL level, you would think that the Rangers would ship out one of their other defensemen to make room for him. This is the tricky part.
Obviously, McDonagh, Smith and Brady Skjei are all locks to make the top six, but that leaves Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Nick Holden, Kevin Klein and Adam Clendening to fight for three lineup spots and one seat in the press box.
If the Rangers were smart, they’d deal either Holden or Klein, but really, if they dealt any of those five defenders except for Clendening–who wouldn’t bring back anything of value in a trade although he has played better than the other four mentioned–you’d have to be happy.
Trading one of them would make room for Smith in the lineup and recoup some of the assets they shipped away in the trade.
Next: Examining Pirri's Value on the Trade Market
The bottom line is this; the Smith move was a calculated risk for the Rangers that could turn into a home run if he re-signs in the offseason. This cannot be the only move they make, though. It was a piece of the puzzle and now management has to go out and either get the other pieces and/or move the pieces that don’t fit.