New York Rangers: Five players losing trade value with early season roles

The New York Rangers early season struggles have created more problems than anticipated. Aside from a lousy record, several players have seen their trade value vanish with their inconsistent roles.

It has been an abysmal start to the New York Rangers season. No one person is to blame, but no one has done enough to stand out. If the dreadful season grows older priorities may shift towards the future. 

Over the summer, GM Jeff Gorton showed his willingness to ship off key players. When he traded Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to the Coyotes there was an obvious disconnect in their value to the team. Unfortunately, if the Rangers decide to become sellers things could continue to get ugly. 

As the first month of the season nears its end there has been one resounding complaint. The deployment and usage of several key players have hindered the on-ice results. Consequently, many of those players are losing value in would-be trade scenarios. 

Michael Grabner

The first name that comes to mind is Michael Grabner. In his second year with the team, Grabner has expectedly fallen back to earth. After scoring 27 goals and 40 points a year ago, Grabner has recorded just two points through the team’s first 10 games. 

Aside from the lack of scoring, Grabner has been virtually non-existent in the Rangers’ plans. Alain Vigneault continues to shuffle his lines with no rhyme or reason, and Grabner is among his casualties. In recent games, with Vigneault running out 11 forwards and seven defensemen, the speedy winger has seen his role reduced to merely a mix-in. 

Where Grabner continues to shine is with the Rangers killing a penalty. He leads all forwards on the roster with 23:04 of shorthanded ice-time. He also has been on the ice for the least number of goals (two) down a man of any forward with over 10 shorthanded minutes.

Last season Grabner’s value was at an all-time high. His offensive production coupled with fantastic penalty-killing made him an attractive sell-high candidate to any contending team. However, with inconsistent minutes, and a decreased offensive role, Grabner’s value is on the decline.

Nick Holden

Another player that has seen his trade value plummet since last season is Nick Holden. Patrick Roy’s “best defenseman” had a climactic start to his New York Rangers career. Dressing in 80 games, Holden recorded a career-best in both goals (11) and assists (23). However, eight of those goals came in the first half and Holden’s game noticeably slowed down as the season progressed. 

It’s been much of the same for Holden to start this season. His second-half troubles have carried over into the 2017-18 campaign. Adding fuel to the frustration surrounding him has been his placement in the Rangers’ top-six defensive group. Predictably, playing against opponent’s top competition has been a detriment to Holden’s game. 

While he will never be the player that showed up for the first half of the 2016-17 season, he could be of value as a bottom-pairing defenseman on another team. Unfortunately, his coach’s inability to realize this has resulted in a six-game sample size that does nothing to audition his skills for a potential trade. 

Marc Staal

While many hoped Staal would be shipped off in the offseason, either through trade or buyout, it was always unlikely. His veteran standing makes him a coach favorite, regardless of his quality of play.

The veteran defenseman has elevated his game in comparison to his abysmal 2016-17 season. However, his role has put him in a position to show more faults than improvements. His services have again been thrust into a top-four, shutdown capacity despite an improved Rangers defense.

In order for Staal to showcase the refinements he made over the summer, he should be given less taxing minutes. Equally as important to his on-ice product is the effect he is having on the players around him. Most recently, Staal has been paired alongside Kevin Shattenkirk, creating an anchor for the offensive specialist much in the way that Dan Girardi did last season with Ryan McDonagh.

At the very least, Staal is blocking the path of other, more deserving players and decreasing his overall value for any team willing to take on his exorbitant contract.

Anthony DeAngelo

Anthony DeAngelo is a prime example of a player being blocked by Marc Staal, which became even more apparent following his demotion to Hartford. Despite being effective in limited action, Vigneault opted to shelter the offensive-minded young star.

In order for young players like DeAngelo to find their footing in the NHL, they must be given the opportunity to work through their mistakes. However, in typical Alain Vigneault fashion, any and every mistake was followed by long stretches stapled to the bench.

In fact, even with Vigneault’s recent deployment, he continued to be a non-factor. During the game against the Nashville Predators, a game in which they used seven defensemen, DeAngelo only saw five shifts for a total of 5:20TOI.

DeAngelo was a high draft pick with extreme upside given a chance, particularly with the puck in the offensive zone. While there is little reason to believe the Rangers are ready to ship DeAngelo out after acquiring him just months ago, his inability to maintain a roster spot is alarming and does very little to maintain his value moving forward.