New York Rangers roundtable: Grading Gorton’s work at the deadline
New York Rangers’ general manager Jeff Gorton made a lot of deals at the trade deadline. What grade does he deserve for his work? The Blue Line Station crew have their report cards ready!
New York Rangers’ general manager Jeff Gorton and president Glen Sather weren’t kidding when they announced that they would start to rebuild their roster at the deadline.
The team traded multiple fan favorites over the past week. Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, Nick Holden, and most recently Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller were the first five casualties of those efforts. For the five players, the franchise acquired 14 different assets in the form of a few roster players, prospects and draft picks.
The Rangers had a solid group of assets to flip at the deadline. How did they do? Our Blue Line Station team offers their opinions on the quality of Gorton’s work.
John Williams
Going into the deadline, I was really nervous.
I didn’t really know how good Gorton was at his job. It is hard to judge a guy off of two or three trades over three seasons.
With that said, if you told me that Gorton would end the deadline by significantly bolstering our prospect pool, garnering four more picks in the first three rounds including two firsts, and scoring two pretty solid roster players under the age of 27, I would have been all for it.
I will admit, though, that the McDonagh/Miller trade was very underwhelming. Libor Hajek looks like a solid defensive prospect with top-two upside and Brett Howden looks like he can be a top-six center, a guy with a similar skill set to that of Derek Stepan, just with better wheels. The potential for two first-rounders is also really nice, and I think Namestnikov could be a solid middle six player for the team going forward.
With that said, it really is upsetting that Mikhail Sergachev wasn’t included.
Regardless, the Rangers loaded their farm system with lots of upside and potential. This iteration of the team wasn’t going anywhere so I’m fine with how bold the front office was here.
It is truly the end of an era, but it is the beginning of something new and exciting on Broadway.
Grade: B+
Nick Zararis
The New York Rangers have officially entered uncharted waters as a franchise.
The bedrock of the franchise has been dramatically reshaped in the past two weeks to secure the future. The reported talk that team owner James Dolan had with team president Glen Sather was to start over and build the team the right way.
I am quite happy with the return that general manager Jeff Gorton got at the trade deadline. Although he did not net any elite prospects, he landed a bevy of solid players that will eventually reach the NHL roster. On top of the prospects, he acquired four picks in the first three rounds of this year’s draft.
Of course, it is imperative that the team draft well to make these deals worth it. The Rangers are officially playing the long game, these are trying times, not for the faint of heart. But the Rangers will be back, hang in there Rangerstown.
Grade: B+
Josh Lipman
I give the Rangers an incomplete. They added some nice pieces, but nothing fantastic. And they still have major decisions ahead.
Jeff Gorton started out with some excellent deals. The team got great value in both the Nick Holden trade and the Michael Grabner trade, acquiring a third-round pick and a second round pick with a solid prospect in Yegor Rykov, respectively. Gorton also received a solid collection of assets for Rick Nash, even though Ryan Lindgren has limited potential.
Despite those positives, I don’t understand the Ryan McDonagh deal. Swapping J.T. Miller for Vladislav Namestnikov makes no sense. It’s a lateral move at best.
Furthermore, Gorton didn’t pull down a single A+ asset. I’m hugely disappointed they surrendered McDonagh and Miller without landing Mikhail Sergachev, Brayden Point, or Cal Foote. Both Brett Howden and Libor Hajek are decent prospects, but neither has elite potential.
Meanwhile, forcing us to root for Tampa Bay so the 2019 second rounder becomes a first rounder adds insult to injury. Best case scenario, their 2018 first rounder winds up as pick 31 and then they get hammered with injuries in 2019 to miss the playoffs. On the other hand, there’s a good chance we wind up with a very low first and a very low second.
Overall, dealing both McDonagh and Miller signals a full rebuild, not a retool. With that in mind, Gorton has a lot of work to do.
The team has a ton of restricted free agents between Namestnikov, Kevin Hayes, Ryan Spooner, and Jimmy Vesey. Not all of those guys fit into a multi-season rebuild.
Gorton also needs to have some uncomfortable conversations with Henrik Lundqvist and Mats Zuccarello. I know Lundqvist says he wants to stay, but if he wants a championship, it’s not coming in a Rangers jersey.
Grade: Incomplete
Dan Carrozzi
I think Gorton’s trades of pending unrestricted free agents Michael Grabner and Rick Nash were well executed. There was some disappointment when Grabner failed to yield a first-round draft pick however, the New Jersey Devils were late to the table. If another team offered up a first-round pick, I believe Gorton would have jumped at that offer instead.
As for the Nash trade to the Boston Bruins, it was about what was expected. However, I think Gorton did well here by taking some of Matt Belesky’s contract in exchange for the Bruins including pending restricted free agent Ryan Spooner. Smart GMs make the most of these kinds of salary maneuvers and I think Gorton acquitted himself well here.
If Gorton had stopped there, I would have given him an A- or even an A. However, he dropped one final bombshell by trading Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Now, the trade wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either, it was OK. The problem is when you’re making this move, trading your number one defenseman to facilitate a rebuild, you have to hit it out of the park. Instead, it appears that Gorton hit just a double.
Trading your number one defenseman and young second-leading scoring should return one ‘A’ prospect in addition to draft picks and other pieces. It is too early to make a final judgment but this feels like the Derek Stepan trade all over again.
It feels like Gorton felt like he needed to make a move now. However, he could have waited until the NHL draft to make his move if he felt the return wasn’t ideal for McDonagh and Miller.
Grade: B-
Drew McCaffrey
The New York Rangers’ strategy and approach at the deadline was sound, and for the most part, well-executed. Starting with Nick Holden last week, Gorton established a pattern. His goal was clearly to stockpile defensive prospects, something the Rangers have lacked for the last four or five years. He also did an admirable job of stocking up on draft picks.
Holden returned a third-round pick and prospect Rob O’ Gara. Michael Grabner, traded to the New Jersey Devils, brought back a second and Russian defenseman Igor Rykov. Rykov immediately becomes one of the Rangers’ best prospects. But Grabner and Holden were small pickings. Rick Nash went to Boston for a first-round pick, Ryan Spooner, Matt Beleskey, prospect Ryan Lindgren, and a seventh-round pick. That return looks great, especially compared to what the likes of Evander Kane and Patrick Maroon got (a conditional second and a prospect, and a third, respectively).
And then there was the doozy.
For the first time this year, Gorton didn’t hit a home run. Captain Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller went to Tampa Bay for a big haul: Vladislav Namestnikov, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek (another defensive prospect), a 2018 first, and a conditional 2019 second-round pick. While this is a big return in quantity, it lacks the kind of elite quality the Rangers should have aimed for.
Maybe Mikhail Sergachev was a non-starter, but if so, they should have been pushing for center Brayden Point. Getting only a middle-six center off the Lightning’s active roster is underwhelming, if not atrocious. So, while Gorton gets As for Holden and Grabner, and an A+ for Nash, the Miller/McDonagh trade only nets a B. Averaged out, the Rangers did well, but not amazing.
Grade: B+
Michael Delasandro
The New York Rangers had a decently successful trade deadline. The biggest success of the week included the departure of Nick Holden. Holden, spending much of his time on the Rangers top defensive pair, was often labeled a defensive liability. Holden had more giveaways in his time with the Rangers than he did in his time with Colorado.
On top of the departure of Holden, the Rangers got a large return for Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller from Tampa Bay. Receiving a player like Vladislav Namestnikov and prospects like Libor Hajek and Brett Howden, the Rangers certainly a ton of talent back. However, I would have liked to see Mikhail Sergachev or Brayden Point. The player who will make the most immediate impact will be Namestnikov.
Rick Nash was also dealt away to the Bruins for a sizable return including a prospect, a player to fill the forward vacancies and Matt Beleskey. The Rangers also dealt away Michael Grabner to the Devils for a second-round pick and prospect Yegor Rykov. The Rangers have certainly reduced their age greatly with these moves, as well as adding a slew of first second and third round picks in the upcoming 2018 amateur draft, which they will certainly use to retool despite the lack of game-changing prospects.
Grade: B-
Brandon Sapienza
If you haven’t noticed already, the Rangers look very different.
In the process of gutting the locker room, they began working on the future and trying to establish a core group of highly touted prospects. However, while getting great value for all the UFAs (Nash, Grabner, Holden), the return for the biggest of the four deals was lackluster.
Trading a great defenseman in Ryan McDonagh and a young roster player like J.T. Miller to a team expected to make a run this season should warrant significant assets going the other way. While what the Rangers got was okay, it could have and should have been better.
Both prospects the Rangers received (Brett Howden and Libor Hajek) are really solid, but compared to what everyone was expecting, it’s a bummer. As for Namestnikov who is also heading to the Rangers, he is just a Miller replacement.
Next: Five worst deadline deals of the Lundqvist era
Additionally, every good rebuild starts with draft picks, and the Rangers did get a lot of them. However, time and time again, Gordie Clark and his scouts have picked the wrong player when there was a future in picks that followed. If the Rangers pull that stunt again and draft a bunch of busts with their multitude of draft picks, they are set back for another 2-4 years at least.
That’s just me looking at the glass half empty, the real story is, the future could be bright if properly executed.