New York Rangers: Thinking through the bye week

The NHL got back to business last night after the All-Star festivities in St. Louis over the weekend. However, the New York Rangers find themselves sitting on the sidelines for several more days as their bye week butts up against the All-Star break, leaving fans with nothing to do but think about the state of the team at this point in the season.

What to do?  It’s only Tuesday. Nothing but blank pages until the Rangers hit the ice on Friday to play the lowly Red Wings.  Nothing to do but ponder the Rangers situation and what in the world may happen over the next several weeks leading up to the trade deadline.

Here are some random thoughts.

What team is going to make the best offer for Alexandar Georgiev?

There doesn’t seem to be a lack of suitors out there for the Rangers apparent odd-man out in the tri-goalie carousel. Toronto would certainly top the list of needy teams but their lack of cap space really doesn’t help anyone in this scenario unless they are willing to part with some high-end talent.  Hello Kasperi Kapanen.

Gotta think a creative GM could work out a three team deal where the Rangers are able to dump a bad contract on a team with some cap space. Anaheim seems to be willing to listen if they could score some draft picks in the deal.

How will the Rangers solve the Chris Kreider situation?

It’s simple really.  The Rangers either trade him or sign him to an extension, right?

One of the two scenarios will come to fruition but whatever direction the Rangers go, fans are sure to engage in an animated conversation about the decision.  Kreider is more than just one of the top players on the team, he a leader and mentor as well.  Some fans see value in that, others simply do not.

Hockey teams win based on talent, grit, and more than just a touch of chemistry.  Will moving Kreider take enough away from the team that it sets them back a few steps in this rebuilding process?

Is K’Andre Miller thinking about leaving Wisconsin at the end of this NCAA season?

If he is, how does that change the way the Rangers approach the trade deadline? You have to think that the Rangers are in constant contact with the kid.

But would the Rangers want to get a look at their prized draft pick against NHL competition this year? And if they do, will they limit that look to less than ten games so they do not burn the first year of his entry-level deal that he would have to sign once leaving college.

In two years, what six players are starting for the Rangers on defense?

This is the question that can really shape the team over the next few weeks before the trade deadline.  Who do the Rangers see as the starting six in two years?

Contractually, you have Jacob Trouba, Brady Skjei and Adam Fox.  Trouba is not going anywhere and neither is Adam Fox.  Skjei has been a topic of conversation on this site with both supporters and detractors voicing strong opinions.  Clearly it is all speculation, but the jury is still out on his spot.

Marc Staal will not be around and neither will Brendan Smith in his hybrid role.

Ryan Lindgren will have to sign an RFA deal in 2021 to be part of the six but his toughness has shown that he should be part of the package.

Libor Hajek is in the same position as Lindgren, but has less of a resume to share at this point.  Injuries have hampered his NHL development for the past two seasons so questions do remain even though when healthy his work on the ice has been impressive, although understated.

The Tony DeAngelo situation is very fluid right now.

Coming up you have Yegor Rykov, Joey Keane, Nils Lundkvist, and the previously mentioned K’Andre Miller.

Clearly you can’t predict the future, and you can’t assume each of the prospects in the system is going to develop into an NHL talent, but looking at all these options should make Rangers fans feel pretty good about the starting six in 2021.

Is John Davidson is doing his best to salvage the Lias Andersson debacle?

Recent updates regarding Andersson have been reported on this site.  There seems to be an effort on part of the Rangers organization to get the former first round pick back on track.  But to what end?

Back in early June I wrote about a trade proposal that sent Andersson to the Edmonton Oilers for their disgruntled Finn Jesse Puljujarvi.  You can’t tell me that idea is not worth pursuing even more at this point.  Neither team has anything to lose in this scenario.

You have to wonder if John Davidson is taking the lead on this situation and if his course of action is a re-start for the kid, or a simple polish to get him ready for a deal.

What kind of deal could be a real surprise at the deadline?

Clearly anything involving Henrik Lundqvist would be a real shocker, but what else could the Rangers do that would really shake up the fan base.

While moving Skjei would certainly turn some heads, moving Buchnevich may turn more.  But no one is going to be surprised by any deal that moves a veteran player that brings back some draft picks.

The type of deal that would really shake up the fan base is one that adds while it also subtracts.  A deal that brings a proven top six winger to the Rangers in exchange for some of the defensive depth the team has stockpiled would be a real turn of events.

If the Rangers somehow pulled off a deal that acquired a player with some scoring touch to replace Jesper Fast on the line with Artemi Panarin, that would be a shocker.

What is the most likely scenario going forward for the rest of the season?

If the Rangers return to play this weekend and promptly lose both games to the Detroit Red Wings, look for things to move rather quickly. But either way, the most likely scenario is that the Rangers will sell off at the trade deadline once again.

Kreider is gone, Fast is gone, Georgie is gone…..maybe DeAngelo, maybe Pavel Buchnevich.  I think Ryan Strome stays put.

The silver lining to this is that we will most likely get to see Vitali Kravtsov at some point during the latter weeks of the season, maybe even on the line with Panarin.

Depending on who is moved there is a chance the Rangers will give Yegor Rykov some experience in the NHL as well.  And who knows, maybe Morgan Barron leads Cornell to the NCAA championship and decides it’s time to join the Rangers. Although he too would fall under the same entry level contract stipulations that Miller would.

The bottom line is, we are sure to see some new, young faces filling in the gaps after February 24.

All told, that’s not a bad thing, it’s just feels a bit like we have seen this movie before.