The New York Rangers have several players that may be more valuable as trade pieces than roster players. It is important to not be afraid to make a trade if it can improve the team.
Anybody can be traded as long as they don’t have a no movement clause. Think of it like this, the Edmonton Oilers traded Wayne Gretzky, the best player in the history of the sport. A 50 point forward pales in comparison to Gretzky, so do the math. If the right trade situation arises, it is imperative for a front office to be ready to pounce.
Look at the two big trades from two summers ago. The New Jersey Devils acquired forward Taylor Hall for defenseman Adam Larsson. Sure, in a vacuum, Larsson was an important part of the Devils roster. The defenseman played top pair minutes for New Jersey, but the chance of picking up Hall was too much to ignore. As they say, the rest is history. Hall finished in the top three for the Hart Trophy this past season and could take it home on June 20.
Furthermore, the Shea Weber for P.K. Subban trade from that summer was a similar trade. Both defenseman played an important role on their respective team’s. However, the respective front offices sought the other player because they did something the other didn’t. Subban’s explosive offensive game has been a shot in the arm to Nashville. Weber gobbled up minutes and didn’t give the coaching staff agita for pinching up into plays late in games.
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So, the Rangers need to listen, no matter who the player is.
Are you sure?
With the current state of New York’s roster, it is obvious they will need outside forces to improve. The team has a glut of centers and low end right handed defenseman. The obvious fix is to trade one of these surplus positions to fill a void. Unfortunately for the Rangers, they will need to part with good talent to get good talent.
Pulling off an outright fleecing during a trade is difficult. Somehow, Ray Shero was able to steal Hall away from the Oilers for Larsson. Expecting the Rangers to simply get better through exploiting a bad general manager is a fools errand. This does mean that to get good talent, the Rangers will need to part with either draft picks or good players.
The elephant in the room is the center position. New York currently has Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes, Vladislav Namestnikov, Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson and Ryan Spooner under team control. So this means that either several of these centers will need to transition to the wing or they are trade bait.
Who goes?
Of all of these centers, Chytil has the highest trade value. But, being that he’s the franchise cornerstone going forward, it’d take a lot to move him. Logically this would mean that either Zibanejad or Hayes is the trade bait for a quality defenseman. Both of these centers are high end talents, that in the right system, could be top line players.
The Rangers also have the conundrum of what to do with Mats Zuccarello as well as Spooner and Namestnikov. The Norwegian forward is going into the last year of his contract and is 30 years old. This puts New York in the impossible position of not wanting to sign Zuccarello to a long term extension past the age of 30, but wanting to retain their team leader in points the last three seasons.
The front office cleaned house of expiring contracts at this past trade deadline. Rick Nash, Nick Holden, Michael Grabner and J.T Miller were all moved in the last year of contracts. In addition, Ryan McDonagh only had one more year on his deal. So it’s clear what the front office’s plan of action regarding Zuccarello would be.
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It is not easy running an NHL front office. Often emotional attachments to players stem from years and years of loyal service. Unfortunately, this often results in painful decisions where the best interests of the team get put before that of a player. The Rangers cannot be afraid to trade a good player if it will improve the team.