With his trade value approaching an all time high, Michael Grabner is certainly collecting some looks from teams around the league. The New York Rangers may be able to capitalize.
Michael Grabner is having a pretty solid season with the Rangers this year. Grabner, leading the team in goals, with a stat line of 20 goals and four assists. Any player with 20 goals is a good piece that could fit in with a few teams.
The Rangers system has allowed Michael Grabner to flourish. Grabner has not put up more than 20 goals since 2011-12 with the Islanders. Much of his offensive success this season has come on empty net goals. He has posted six empty net goals thus far this season. The single-season record belongs to Hall of Famer Pavel Bure with nine in the 1999-00 season.
Known around the league for his great speed, the Austrian winger is also an asset on the penalty kill. He placed third in voting for the Calder Trophy in his rookie season behind Jeff Skinner and Logan Couture, and 20th in Selke voting that same year.
Teams that would be interested in Grabner are those that would need some extra wing depth for a playoff run. The 30-year-old is responsible in his own end and is an elite penalty killer. In fact, Grabner has an average of 0.324 powerplay goals against in ~5000 minutes of shorthanded ice time. The next player with a PPGA less than or equal to this has played 1000 fewer minutes shorthanded.
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San Jose Sharks
San Jose could use a depth forward like Michael Grabner. The highest scoring winger in San Jose would be Joonas Donskoi with just 10 goals and 10 assists. Despite the Sharks being fairly successful this season, adding a piece like Michael Grabner would only bolster a strong Sharks PK . Grabner would serve as a veteran presence on a team looking to make a post season run.
The Sharks certainly have the cap space to take on the 1.65 million dollar cap hit of Grabner, however, working him into a lineup would be tedious. It would be difficult to displace any of the young wingers, and that could be a deal breaker.
Despite the potential roadblock in the field of where to play Grabner, an acquisition of the high speed two way forward would not hurt the Sharks, particularly as a rental in a long playoff run where injuries can occur.
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Colorado Avalanche
With seven players currently listed as injured, the Colorado Avalanche would be the beneficiary of a trade for Michael Grabner. Following a year that saw them sitting in the cellar of the league, the Avalanche have already eclipsed their point total from last season. However, the depth on the wings is somewhat shaky for the Avalanche.
The only players locked into their current positions are standout players Mikko Rantanen, Nathan Mackinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Alex Kerfoot. However, past that, Colorado would not suffer to shuffle up the bottom six.
Michael Grabner would benefit the Avalanche by adding to their penalty kill and by increasing reliability in their own zone. The Avalanche, being one of the younger teams in the league deal with inexperience. In any playoff series, the experience is a valuable intangible.
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As much as it would assist the Rangers to keep Michael Grabner, it may benefit the team as a whole to move Grabner to another team for some picks or a prospect or two, and then attempt to resign him in the offseason.