With every passing game and new branch grown on the “trade tree”, it becomes even more evident that the New York Rangers have won the Ryan Strome for Ryan Spooner swap.
When the New York Rangers traded Ryan Spooner to the Edmonton Oilers for Ryan Strome back in November, many fans were confused as to why they did it. After all, both players only totaled two points (one goal and one assist each), Strome having played in 18 games and Spooner in 16.
The only way the Rangers could have had a leg up was through cap space. That hope was squashed when New York retained just enough salary for the two players to be earning the same amount of money for the remainder of their respective contracts.
In the end, the trade was perfectly even. The trade was “one-for-one”, à la Bob McKenzie.
However, as time has gone on, it has become more and more obvious that the Rangers did have the upper hand in this exchange. In fact, they continue to win it nearly every day.
Performance this season
The most obvious benefit of this trade is Strome’s increased offensive production since coming to New York. He has 15 points (seven goals and eight assists) in 39 games as a Ranger, clearly a step up from the two points in 18 games with Edmonton, bringing his total on the season to 17 points (eight goals and nine assists) in 57 games.
As for Spooner, he only had three points (two goals and one assist) in 25 games with Edmonton and they eventually waived him and sent him down to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL, where he had six points (two goals and four assists) in seven games.
Earlier this month, the Oilers traded Ryan Spooner to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for former Oiler Sam Gagner. It remains to be seen whether he will succeed there or not, but the point is that the Rangers won their trade involving him, by a mile with Strome thriving in New York, while Spooner only lasted a few months in Edmonton and could not turn his campaign around.
Gagner was a disappointment in Vancouver after signing a $9.4 million contract as a free agent last season. He only appeared in seven games with Vancouver this season, spending most of it on loan to the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.
He was held scoreless in his only game so far with the Oilers, but they hope he returns to his former self when he had numbers similar to that of Spooner and Strome.
Cap benefits
To dig a bit deeper, there’s one more reason why the Rangers won the Ryan Strome-Ryan Spooner trade, and it’s a bit hidden. Since Spooner hasn’t been as successful as predicted this season, the Canucks or whichever team he ends up with at the end of the season may choose to buy out his current contract.
The buyout window opens on June 15th or 48 hours after the Stanley Cup Final ends. It closes on June 30th at 5:00 PM EST.
When a player’s contract is bought out, the team that they were on gets to pay a reduced version of their cap hit for the remaining time left on the contract.
If a player is younger than 26, the team only has to pay one-third of whatever is left in the contract. If the player is 26 or older, the team must pay two-thirds of what is left on the contract.
That’s where the deal made sense for the Rangers. During this year’s buyout period, Strome will remain just 25 years old, as his birthday is July 11th, 1993. Spooner already turned 27 this past January.
If the Rangers had kept Spooner and wanted to buy him out to save cap space they would have had to to pay two-thirds of his remaining salary. If Strome had been unproductive, and the Rangers wanted to buy him out, they would only have to pay one-third of his remaining salary.
Whether this was a factor in making the trade or not, it’s an added bonus to a deal that’s already beneficial for the Rangers. Regardless of what happens in the future, the Ryan Strome-Ryan Spooner deal should always be considered one of the better, smarter deals in this era of New York Rangers hockey.