With Derek Stepan out of the picture, the New York Rangers have a lot of questions they need to answer. The most important one, of course, being “Who’s going to fill his role as top center?”
In mid-July of last offseason, the New York Rangers surprised everyone with their trade with the Senators, giving up talented center Derrick Brassard for his younger version, Mika Zibanejad. The trade, for the most part, ended up working out nicely, but still, no one saw it coming.
Perhaps the same thing will happen this offseason. The Rangers might yet again make an unanticipated move. And that’s exactly what we’re here to figure out so that if it happens, this time we’re not as stunned. Here are five out of the box replacements for Stepan: