New York Rangers: Who will be lost in the Expansion Draft?

Dan Carrozzi- Nick Holden

The New York Rangers will lose Nick Holden in the expansion draft.

The Rangers must make the most of their opportunities this off-season to retool their defense. One of those will be the upcoming expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Unless something changes, defensemen Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, and Dan Girardi will be protected by the Rangers. Fortunately, Brady Skjei is exempt from needing to be protected as well.

Of the remaining defensemen, Nick Holden appears to have the most value to the Golden Knights. Holden posted 34 points while playing top-4 minutes for the Rangers this past season.
However, the Rangers will have several more enticing options exposed, namely Antti Raanta, Michael Grabner, Oscar Lindberg, and Jesper Fast.

In order to make the Golden Knights select Holden as their official expansion draft pick, Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton must offer them a bribe. This bribe may come in the form of a pick, prospect or potentially one of the aforementioned forwards like Jesper Fast.

It may seem like a steep price to pay to get rid of a player like Nick Holden, but that’s not the main objective here. The point of making Vegas select Holden is so that the Rangers do not lose an impact player, such as Raanta or Grabner, for nothing.