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New York Rangers trade target: Andreas Johnsson

By Andrew Steele-Davis

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 15: Andreas Johnsson #18 of the Toronto Maple Leafs salutes the crowd after receiving a star of the game after defeating the Boston Bruins in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scotiabank Arena on April 15, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 15: Andreas Johnsson #18 of the Toronto Maple Leafs salutes the crowd after receiving a star of the game after defeating the Boston Bruins in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Scotiabank Arena on April 15, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – MARCH 15: Toronto Maple Leafs Left Wing Andreas Johnsson (18) in warmups wearing the Toronto St Pats jersey prior to the regular season NHL game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs on March 15, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON. (Photo by Gerry Angus/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – MARCH 15: Toronto Maple Leafs Left Wing Andreas Johnsson (18) in warmups wearing the Toronto St Pats jersey prior to the regular season NHL game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs on March 15, 2019 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON. (Photo by Gerry Angus/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Let’s talk money

This is where it gets interesting. Johnsson has a yearly salary of just $787,500 and is now an arbitration eligible restricted free agent.

He has already turned down multiple contract offers from the Maple Leafs according to reports, who find themselves in salary cap hell heading into this off-season and that won’t get any better given the fact they are still to sign star forward Mitch Marner to a new deal.

This is where the Rangers come in. As we know, the Blueshirts have an abundance of cap space and they also have a plethora of draft picks at their disposal.

Both points are important here considering that the Rangers could afford to give up a package of draft picks for Johnsson, which Toronto could then either stockpile or flip to further help their salary cap issues.

The Rangers would of course have to ink Johnsson to a long-term deal themselves at one point, or even negotiate and “sign and trade” agreement with Toronto.

Johnsson would demand a rise, that goes without saying, but with just one year in the NHL under his belt that should be manageable, especially for the Blueshirts who have cash to burn to an extent.

Alex Tuch of the Vegas Golden Knights is perhaps a fair comparison. After his rookie year in the NHL, where he put up 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 78 games, the right-wing was awarded a seven-year deal with a salary cap hit of $4.75 million.

Something in that region would likely suit both Johnsson and the Rangers, who would be wise to take advantage of Toronto’s financial constraints.

Conclusion

It is worth mentioning that this is just an opinion piece, so we aren’t suggesting that the Rangers have any sort of interest in trading for Andreas Johnsson.

However, should the Blueshirts miss out on a big free agent name like Artemi Panarin then going after someone of Johnsson’s ilk wouldn’t be a bad secondary road to go down.

As already mentioned, he’s young, he has proven albeit in a small sample size that he has the skills to one day be an elite playmaker in the NHL and he wouldn’t cost the earth if the Rangers made their move now.

Next. Jimmy Vesey report card. dark

Just imagine a top line of Chris Kreider–Mika Zibanejad-Andreas Johnsson next season, or a second line of Filip Chytil–Ryan Strome-Andreas Johnsson.

Johnsson could be a dangerous weapon straightaway for the Rangers, while at the same time being a foundation piece long-term as this rebuild gets ready to enter the next phase.

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