New York Rangers: Why they should sign Erik Karlsson

The New York Rangers are expected to be active in the free agent market this summer.  While there are some outstanding UFA’s available, there is one defenseman available whose upside is huge.

Artemi Panarin is the name you hear most often when you say the words unrestricted free agent and New York Rangers.  The next name you hear is Erik Karlsson and both make perfect sense.

When it comes to Panarin, he would solve several dire needs for the Rangers.  The team is offensively challenged with a impotent power play and no secondary scoring.  Furthermore, their pipeline is pretty dry with most of the team’s hopes centered on 19-year old Vitali Kravtsov.  Picture Mika Zibanejad flanked by Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich and the Ranger offense looks a lot better.

But everyone readily agrees that the Ranger defense is abysmal.  There is nary a top pair defenseman to be found and while Jeff Gorton did a masterful job of restocking the prospect pool, K’Andre Miller, Nils Lundkvist and Joey Keane are years away from becoming impactful defensemen. Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek are closer, but it will be at least two years for them to reach their potential.   It’s simply a fact that defensemen take longer to develop.

That’s the single biggest reason that Erik Karlsson makes a lot of sense for the Rangers.  In one fell swoop, the team upgrades their defense with a game changing all-star. His excellence would be an example for the Rangers’ cadre of young players and he would stabilize the team’s biggest area of concern.

Reasons to do it

Besides the impact that Karlsson would have on the team defense, there is a simple fact of life in the National Hockey League.  In order to win the Stanley Cup, it really helps to have a star defenseman.   Looking back at the past 15 years of championship teams, the one common denominator is almost every team had a stud defenseman.

Here is the list:  Kris Letang of the Penguins, Duncan Keith of the Blackhawks, Drew Doughty of the Kings, Nick Lindstrom of Detroit, Zdeno Chara of Boston and Scott Niedermayer of Anaheim.

The 2006 Carolina Hurricanes was the only team since the lockout to win the Cup without that quality stud defenseman.   Last season’s Washington Capitols almost didn’t make the list, but John Carlson took on that role with 20 points in 24 games.

Karlsson will turn 29 in May.  While it may seem folly for a rebuilding team to invest a long-term contract with a player just shy of 30, it’s also a fact that defensemen last longer.  While they are slowing down, 35-year old Duncan Keith and 42-year old Zdeno Chara are still top flight defensemen and on most nights, better than anyone on the Ranger’s current roster.

While Karlsson has put in a lot of minutes, he isn’t a physical player and hasn’t taken the beating that would shorten his career expectations.  It’s a fact that the number of games Karlsson has played in has dropped over the last three years, but the 22 games he has missed this season is due to a recurring groin injury that he didn’t give enough time to heal.

Playing for Ottawa also has meant that Karlsson’s seasons have been short. In nine years with the Senators, he made the playoffs only four times and went deep only once.

Despite missing those 22 games, Karlsson has 45 points, good for 14th among NHL defensemen.  He is averaging 0.87 points per game, seventh best in the league.  I don’t think the expectations are that team signing will get the Erik Karlsson who scored 21 goals in 2015, but he’s still a naster at the power play.

Finally, adding Erik Karlsson to the Rangers would be a gift for Henrik Lundqvist.  The two played together for the Swedish national team and are friends.   Connecting two of the greatest Swedish players of all time would be a fitting end to Lundqvist’s career.