New York Rangers: How do they sweeten the trade pot?

The New York Rangers are back in cap hell.  Arbitration is looming for Jacob Trouba and Pavel Buchnevich and they are precariously near the cap with more players to be signed.  What can they do?

With the New York Rangers facing a cap crunch for the first time in a few years, they will have to get creative to get out of the fix they created when they signed Artemi Panarin and traded for Jacob Trouba.

We’ve all pondered the benefits of buyouts, trades or burials in the AHL, but the situation is so tight that even if all the cards fall just right, the team will need to make some moves that will be unpopular.  That means trading players who shouldn’t be dealt.

It’s been reported that Pavel Buchnevich is on the block.  More concerning is that there are reports that no one is interested in either Vlad Namestnikov and his $4 million salary or Kevin Shattenkirk and his $6.5 million annual hit.  That’s easy to understand when you are over a barrel and everyone knows it.

Trading for nothing

The only solution may be the road taken by the Toronto Maple Leafs and their trade of Patrick Marleau.   Anyone with a modicum of hockey knowledge would look at that deal and wonder what in the earth were the Leafs thinking.  Toronto got a sixth round pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft from Carolina in exchange for Patrick Marleau, their 2020 first round pick (conditional) and a seventh round pick in 2020.

The deal was a great one for the Leafs as it bought them $6.25 million in cap space from Marleau’s bloated deal.  Marleau was promptly bought out by the Carolina Hurricanes.

As the days, hours and minutes tick by, you can be sure that Jeff Gorton is working the phones in an attempt to make a more equitable deal…but as we get closer to arbitration time, it may be necessary to try the same tack with one or even two of the three S’s.

Again, the problem is finding a taker and that’s where Kyle Dubas moved quickly.  Unfortunately for Gorton, not knowing if Panarin would happen handcuffed the GM and he was unable to make a deal on good terms before the situation became desperate.

One major issue is the teams that have salary cap space are not exactly desperate for what the Rangers have.  Columbus is chock full of young defensemen.  Winnipeg obviously preferred Pionk to Shattenkirk. Colorado could probably use a righty defenseman, but Joe Sakic is very tough to deal with.  New Jersey is problematic and Ottawa is unpredictable.   And don’t forget, Shattenkirk has a limited no trade clause.

All of the speculation recently has been about Pavel Buchnevich.  The winger is coming off his best season and at times last season, looked to be the breakout star that the Rangers hoped he would become.  While that has increased his trade value, it makes it more difficult to part with him.

A better solution?

Perhaps the best solution is to package a Shattenkirk, Smith or Namestnikov with a young talent who is actually desired by other teams.  As much as Ranger fans like Brendan Lemieux and the physicality he brings to the team, he is also a bottom six winger and they have a surplus of those.   He’s young and he’s cheap and could be an attractive addition to a cap relief trade.

The other option is one of the better minor league prospects or a first round pick.   While it is a return to the bad old days of trading first rounders, they may be forced to yet again.  What about a top prospect? While it is pretty sure that K’Andre Miller is an untouchable, what about a Nils Lundkvist or even an Yegor Rykov?  Is the team still committed to Lias Andersson and would someone be willing to absorb a big contract if he was part of the deal?

It fundamentally comes down to deciding what the least painful subtraction will be, knowing that whatever the team does, it will hurt. .

The bottom line is when Artemi Panarin said “yes” it meant a cap problem for New York and every other general manager in the league knew it as well.  If anyone expects Jeff Gorton to pull a rabbit out of a hat, they are going to be disappointed.

They can get close by other machinations, but no matter what they need to do a deal and they need to do it soon.  Sweetening the pot may be the only way and that’s why we may be saying goodbye to a Brendan Lemieux or a Ryan Strome or even a Lias Andersson.