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Who has better trade deadline assets than the New York Rangers?

By Steve Paulus

BUFFALO, NY - OCTOBER 6: Kevin Hayes #13 of the New York Rangers prepares for a face-off against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game on October 6, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Joe Hrycych/NHLI via Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - OCTOBER 6: Kevin Hayes #13 of the New York Rangers prepares for a face-off against the Buffalo Sabres during an NHL game on October 6, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Joe Hrycych/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 27: Adam McQuaid #54 of the New York Rangers skates against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on September 27, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – SEPTEMBER 27: Adam McQuaid #54 of the New York Rangers skates against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on September 27, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Top 10 defensemen

  1. Alex Edler, Vancouver Canucks – The 32 year old is a lifelong Canuck in his 13th year with the team.  He recently came back from a stint on IR with a sprained knee.  The veteran Swede has made it known he wants to stay in Vancouver, but he could be part of a Canucks sell-off.
  2. Ben Lovejoy, New Jersey Devils – Lovejoy is a 34 year old, 11-year NHL veteran who won’t be a big point producer, but will be a serviceable second or third defense pairing addition.
  3. Jay Bouwmeester, St. Louis Blues – The 35 year old defenseman is having one of the worst years of his career, but could be an attractive pickup for a playoff team looking for strong stay at home blueliner.
  4. Alex Petrovic, Florida Panthers – A 26 year old with solid possession stats, Petrovic is a stay at home defenseman.  He’s not a big scorer, topping out with 17 points in his best season. An added bonus is he is a righthanded shot.
  5. Michael Del Zotto, Vancouver Canucks – The former Ranger has never lived up to the promise he showed as a rookie in New York, but has managed to extend his career with solid seasons in Philadelphia and Vancouver. He plays about 18 minutes per game and is valuable on the power play. Teams could do worse than the 28 year old.
  6. Adam McQuaid, New York Rangers
  7. Jan Rutta, Chicago Blackhawks – The 28 year old Czech import is a righthanded shot and is coming off a 20 point season in his first year in North America.
  8. Jordan Oesterle, Arizona Coyotes – Oesterle is a 26 year old D-man with a decent offensive upside.
  9. Robert Bortuzzo, St. Louis Blues – Bortuzzo has missed much of the season with lower body injury and just resumed play as Jay Bouwmeester’s partner on the third defense pair.
  10. Bogdan Kiselevich, Florida Panthers – Florida signed the nine year KHL veteran to bolster their blueline and he has done precisely that as a third pair defenseman.   With six assists in 21 games, he is still getting accustomed to North American rinks, but he has been a good acquisition.

Other notables

The quality of free agent-to-be defensemen is pretty weak.  There are three others worth mentioning.  Justin Falk of the Ottawa Senators is a former Ranger, not to be confused with his namesake (different spelling) with Carolina.  There’s also Carl Gunnarsson of the St. Louis Blues and Oscar Fantenberg of the Los Angeles Kings.

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