Ryan Graves, the one who got away
There are always minor trades made in the NHL and the New York Rangers are no exception. In February 2018, the Blueshirts made a deal that got no attention, but it appears to be one they will regret.
The February 26, 2018 trade was inconsequential. The New York Rangers and the Colorado Avalanche swapped minor league defensemen. The Avalanche gave up a 23-year old lefthanded shooting blueliner that they had drafted in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. The Rangers traded a 23-year old lefthanded shooting defenseman they had drafted in the fourth round the same year. Their names? Chris Bigras and Ryan Graves.
It was one of 17 trades made that deadline day. No one really cared about this deal, especially in the world of the New York Rangers. That same day they had pulled off the biggest trade of the day, swapping team captain Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to Tampa for a boatload of future assets. It was one day after the team had traded Rick Nash and Michael Grabner.
Chris Bigras
Chris Bigras was a highly regarded defenseman in junior hockey. He was a teammate of Connor McDavid with the gold medal winning Canadian team at the U18 World Junior Championships in 2013. After a 38 point season with the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL, he was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the second round of the 2013 Draft. He was the 32nd overall pick, practically a first rounder.
He played two more years in the OHL, peaking with a 71 point season in 2014-15. Over the next three years he spent most of his time with San Antonio of the AHL, though he did get into 46 games with the Avalanche. His best year was his first pro year and his prospects declined each of the following years, leading to his trade to the Rangers. He played one and a half seasons in Hartford and the Rangers signed him to a one year contract extension in the summer of 2018.
This summer, the Rangers did not extend him a qualifying offer and he signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and is playing for their Lehigh Valley Phantoms farm team.
Clearly, the Rangers rolled the dice with the Bigras acquisition. The hope was that a change of scenery would jump start the career of a player who was a highly regarded prospect whose career just didn’t work out with Colorado. It didn’t work out, but the Rangers surrendered a player they also believed had hit his ceiling.
Ryan Graves
Ryan Graves has two characteristics that made him an attractive prospect. First, he is big at 6’5″, 227 pounds. Second, he has a booming shot. Those were the reasons the Rangers drafted him in the fourth round of the 2013 Entry Draft, making him the 110th overall pick.
It was a good draft for the Rangers, who had traded away their top two picks. Their highest pick, Adam Tambellini at #65 never panned out, but later selections included Pavel Buchnevich, Anthony Duclair, Graves and goalie MacKenzie Skapski.
Graves’ play improved every year in the QMJHL and in his last season he scored 15 goals and 39 points for Quebec. After that season they signed him to a standard Entry Level Contract and he began his pro career with Hartford in 2015-16.
Graves had two solid seasons in Hartford. In his rookie year he posted a line of 9-12-21. The next year he scored eight goals and added 22 assists. In his two years he was the top blueliner on a bad Hartford team, representing the Wolf Pack at the 2016 AHL All-Star Game. At that game he drew attention by winning the competition for the hardest shot with a 103.4 mph slapshot.
In 2017-18, he had a bad start and in 57 games he scored four goals and totaled 11 points with a plus/minus of -15. He dropped on the depth chart behind undrafted free agent signees Neal Pionk, John Gilmour and trade acquisition Ryan Sproul. When the Blueshirts announced their rebuild on February 8, it was obvious that Graves was not in their plans and the trade to Colorado followed at the deadline.
Since the trade
As mentioned earlier, Bigras played the remainder of the season with Hartford and was renewed for one year before the Rangers let him go. Graves followed his path, finishing the 2017-18 season with the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL. He spent the first half of last season with the Colorado’s new farm team, the Colorado Eagles with a couple brief call ups to the NHL and then was promoted for good on February 9 top replace injured defenseman Ian Cole.
Graves acquitted himself well, playing in 26 games while scoring three goals and totaling five points. He was a plus four on a top Western Conference team, but founding himself a healthy scratch during the Avalanche’s 12 game playoff run.
This season Graves has found himself starting regularly on the third defense pair. With Ian Cole out after hip surgery, Graves had an opportunity to earn a starting job and he did it. He has found a role, replacing Patrik Nemeth who signed with the Detroit Red Wings.
According to the Denver Post, Graves “is playing a key shutdown role.” They cited his use in Saturday’s win over the Minnesota Wild as he was on the ice in the final minutes as the Avalanche clung to a 3-2 lead. Graves scored an empty net goal to ensure the win.
Graves has surpassed free agent signee Mark Barbiero and trade acquisitions Kevin Connauton (traded for Carl Soderberg) and Calle Rosen (Nazem Kadri trade). In fact, Connauton and Rosen have started the season in the AHL. Defense prospect Connor Timmons started the season with the Avalanche, but was sent down with the imminent return of Cole from IR.
So what?
So, why should we care about Ryan Graves? What’s disturbing about Graves’ career with the Rangers organization is that it’s clear that the team severely underestimated his upside. While Neal Pionk deserved the opportunity before Graves, the fact is that John Gilmour and Ryan Sproul were deemed to have more potential. Gilmour is an AHL defenseman for Buffalo and Sproul is currently out of hockey.
As it is, with the Rangers’ improved depth chart on defense, it’s not clear where Graves would be if he was still with the organization. Since the trade, the team has developed Libor Hajek, Ryan Lindgren and Tony DeAngelo and acquired Jacob Trouba, Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller, Nils Lundkvist, Joey Keane and Matthew Robertson. They are still saddled with contractual commitments to Marc Staal and Brendan Smith. Would he be a starter? Probably not.
The issue is if Graves had been given a shot instead of Ryan Sproul or John Gilmour, he might have driven a greater return than Chris Bigras. It is a shame that a young player with potential has found success elsewhere. And it is a shame that Ryan Graves’ greatest Ranger memory will be this:
The question is whether it was the dysfunctional management of the Hartford Wolf Pack that led to the decision to jettison a player who has become a useful NHL defenseman or just bad player assessment. The deal for Bigras makes sense if the Rangers believed that Graves had no future, but that is not how it has turned out. Ryan Graves is now a top six defenseman on one of the best teams in the Western Conference. It happens.
More. Oilers to be the first real test. light
K’Andre Miller to play
Speaking of Rangers defense prospects, Madison.com is reporting that K’Andre Miller will be in the lineup for Wisconsin season opener Friday against Boston College in Boston. Six first round draft picks will be in the game, three for each team. Miller had been suspended for violating a team rule and was held out of a practice and scrimmage.