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New York Rangers: Bold Predictions for the preseason

By John Williams

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 22: The New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 22, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 22: The New York Rangers celebrate after defeating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 in Game Six of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on April 22, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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John Williams- Nick Holden will be traded

I know I’m not exactly breaking any ground here since this is something that has been rumored all offseason but I still wanted to point this out to the people who have given up hope.

The Rangers probably want to see what they have with their youngins on the backend such as Alexei Bereglazov, Neal Pionk, Anthony DeAngelo, Ryan Graves and Sean Day, all of which who will compete with Holden, Marc Staal and Steven Kampfer for the Rangers last two or three defense spots on the roster.

There is no way that the Rangers can hold onto all of these guys. Holden is coming off the best season of his career –offensively, anyway– and his trade value will never be higher. The Rangers, who will most likely let him walk next offseason as he becomes an unrestricted free agent, need to clear some cap space in case they do try to acquire a center like most would argue they should.

Holden likely would bring back a mid-round draft pick to a team who is desperately in need of a boost in their farm system.

Also, it is worth noting –although it could mean nothing– that the team hasn’t announced his new number yet, since Kevin Shattenkirk took his number 22 after he signed on. It appears that Holden will be wearing 55 at the moement, but it is odd that the team never officially announced this.

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