New York Rangers: Five expansion draft trade targets

Matt Dumba

And here we come to the player that the Rangers should try hardest to trade for.

Matt Dumba is a 22 year old defenseman for the Minnesota Wild.

Similar to McNabb, Manson and Dano, Dumba is young and on a team friendly contract. As Manson and Demers are, Dumba is a desired right shot defenseman. Like Dano, Dumba is a former first round draft pick.

Dumba has the most enticing combination of current production, future potential and low cost.

Last season for the Wild, Dumba scored 11 goals and 34 points in 76 games. Dumba played the third most of the defenseman with 20:19 TOI/game. He also played a significant role on the Wild powerplay. Dumba tied Ryan Suter with 12 powerplay points and led defenseman with six powerplay goals. He was second to Suter for PP TOI among defenseman as well.

Dumba would fill a need that the Rangers currently do not have an in-house solution for.

However, Dumba is only signed through next season at $2.55MM, meaning his next contract will likely be a hefty one. This is despite the fact he will still be a restricted free agent.

The cost to obtain him would likely be a hefty one as well. It may take the likes of J.T. Miller or Kevin Hayes with a prospect or picks to acquire Dumba.

Next: New York Rangers’ five biggest needs the rest of the offseason

Regardless of who the Vegas Golden Knights select from the New York Rangers, the Rangers have an opportunity to come out better for it. The plethora of quality, available players mean that if the Rangers can assemble an attractive enough trade package, they may be able to obtain one from the league’s newest team.

(Stats courtesy of NHL.com and Puckalytics. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly)