It’s time to talk about your New York Rangers! Here are some thoughts that I have regarding the team as July winds down.
- The dog days of the summer are here and there is very little going on in the hockey world. Most teams are content with the group they are going to bring to camp by now. The New York Rangers are not one of those teams.
- The Rangers have two areas they need to work on; their center depth and their glut of defenseman fighting for three roster spots.
- They appear to be trying to fix the latter, as TSN reported that the team is actively shopping Nick Holden in hopes that he is traded.
- Despite what Rangers fans think, Holden will undoubtedly have some trade value. After all, he scored 11 goals and 23 assists last season, even if his defense was poor. He has a cheap one-year contract that would be manageable under any team’s cap.
- The other reason the team wants to ship out a defenseman is so they can add another top-six center.
- A guy like Tyler Bozak, who’s on the last year of his deal in Toronto, would be a good fit. According to TSN, though, the Rangers have shown no reported interest in Bozak.
- This was originally reported by Larry Brooks, who broke down why the Rangers would have to buyout Marc Staal to add a significant piece at center.
- The window to buy out the veteran defender has closed and he will still be there come the start of the season.
A look at the prospects
- Also in the Brooks report above, he noted that despite rumors, It appears the team’s first rounder Filip Chytil will most likely start the season overseas. I think this is the best thing for his long term development. He will just be turning 18 in September.
- Our own David Bruce wrote about the top five prospects in the team’s system that he is happy haven’t been traded.
- Adam Herman over at Blueshirt Banter is in the midst of his prospect rankings series and each and every post has been a must read. This is the latest one in the series.
More rumors and thoughts
- If you want to read more about what the Rangers have on defense heading into the season, Brooks wrote about it here.
- Sean Hartnett of CBS New York wrote about how a Rangers-Jaromir Jagr reunion could be a good idea. Jagr may be 45 years old, but he is still kicking at his age. Jagr was a fan favorite in his time in New York over parts of four seasons. In one of those seasons, he did the incredible, setting the franchise record for points in a season with 123.
Next: Top 5 players Rangers fans love to hate
- Truth be told, the free agent market lacks viable options at center and the trade market doesn’t seem to be there for the team either. The best bet might be to sign the veteran forward and let J.T. Miller take over the reigns at center.