The New York Rangers have one regulation win in their last ten games. The team is coming apart at the seams and needs an overhaul at the deadline.
The Rangers are out of their depth in every facet of the game right now. Their coaching staff is out of ideas, they haven’t scored more than two goals in a game in two weeks, and their defense could not stop a nosebleed. Point being, the team was built upon outscoring other teams to compensate for a bad defense and that’s not a choice anymore.
For the team, this season has been an absolute mess with one solid run in between two terrible bookends. The stretch from Halloween till mid-December was all smoke and mirrors, power-play goals and Henrik Lundqvist standing on his head was good enough to get by. Now, without Chris Kreider on the powerplay, the unit is powerless.
All things considered, the team has overachieved thus far on the back of Lundqvist. Now comes the point where reality has set in, the team needs to recharge at the deadline with a firesale. Selling off veterans on expiring contracts and team friendly deals to prepare for next year is the best plan of action for the rest of this season.
The hot stove
Saturday night on Hockey Night in Canada, Elliot Friedman reported that the Rangers were looking to make a move similar to the “Derek Stepan trade at the NHL draft.” This is a sign that the front office is acknowledging that although the rest of this season may be a wash, there are moves to be made to sure up the future.
The Stepan trade was difficult to make for a number of reasons. The veteran center was a homegrown talent that blossomed into a good two way center with a knack for scoring big goals.
However, Stepan was about to have a no-trade clause activate in his contract on July 1st of 2017. The front office did not want to be burdened with a long-term contract even though Stepan is only 27 years old. This was the first move in overhauling the image of the team and beginning a transition to youth.
Who goes?
The Rangers are not a bad team in terms of talent on paper. The team has too many of the same type of player which makes for a poorly designed roster. Redundancy is part of why the team’s offense has gone bone dry without Kreider. He is one of the few shoot first players on the team who will not hesitate to take a shot.
In terms of overall scope of the roster, there are very few players who should be deemed untouchable. Pavel Buchnevich, Mika Zibanejad, and Brady Skjei are the future core of this team down the road. All three are under the age of 25 and already are amongst the best producers on the entire team.
The two main candiates to be sold at the deadline thus far were Rick Nash and Michael Grabner. Both are proven veterans in the last year of their current contracts that could help bolster the reserves of a team in the hunt. However, Saturday night, two other names were added to the rumor mill.
Who’s the captain now?
That leaves roughly 14 or so players on the trade block. The team’s front office should not feel obligated to sell low on any of their marquee names. Now, this may be hard to stomach, but Friedman mentioned both Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zuccarello by name.
They represent half of the team’s leadership group, and a willingness to move them signals a shift in the direction of the team. On the open market either would get a significant package in return. Although he is having a pour season, McDonagh is a multiple time all star and has finished in the top ten of Norris trophy voting multiple times.
It is not often that a player of McDonagh’s caliber hits the open market. Any team that adds the Rangers captain would have a player capable of immediately being a number one defenseman. A team like the Edmonton Oilers or Toronto Maple Leafs starved for defense would jump up the pecking order with McDonagh on their blueline.
Going forward
The Rangers need to face the music, they are in a playoff position at the moment but it will not last. Holding onto veteran players to lose them for nothing in return is a bad decision that hurts the long-term health of the team.
Moving on from good players is never an easy choice to make. Especially players like Zuccarello and McDonagh that have been the cornerstones of such long-term success. There is nothing to be gained by standing pat with a flawed team.
Making moves like these has a secondary impact which also helps in the long-term. It will give young players the chance to get meaningful NHL experience with little consequence. There are several players down in Hartford who could gain a lot from 40 games in the show. Figuring out the future is the best way to use games that do not have playoff impact.