Analyzing the Kreider extension and the Shesterkin accident

What an insane day.  It started as a day when the New York Rangers were going to trade one of their best assets and turned into a day of news that has turned the team upside down. What does it all mean?

First, the assumption has to be that the New York Rangers are not done dealing.  If you were wondering why Jeff Gorton wasn’t with John Davidson at the press conference, it was because he is probably busy.  More on that in a bit.

Second, the team is going all out for the playoffs, but will have to do it with their old goaltending tandem of Georgiev and Lundqvist.   Let’s look at the trade deadline day implications first.

Trade deadline day is not over

If the cap remains the same next season, with the Kreider extension, they have $9.4 million left to sign Anthony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome, Brendan Lemieux, Alexandar Georgiev and Phil Di Giuseppe, all arbitration eligible restricted free agents.  Needless to say, that ‘s not enough.

When the team traded Joey Keane, they showed a commitment to sticking with DeAngelo and they will need to find space to re-sign him.  He will probably want something in the area of $5 million.  Lemieux and Georgiev will both need decent raises and that leaves Ryan Strome as the odd man out.

In order to find cap space the Rangers will have to make a deal, the question is who will be going.  The only option at forward was Pavel Buchnevich, but with last night’s car accident he may be off the market.  One option on defense is Brady Skjei.  With the injury to Shesterkin, Alexandar Georgiev is not available any longer.

Does this mean that Ryan Strome will be traded?  If the intent is to deal him, it will be now and not in June.  If Gorton waits until after the season, he will be in the same situation he was in last year when he was forced to give up Jimmy Vesey and Vlad Namestnikov for minimal return, just to clear cap space.

There are a couple options left for Gorton and they are cap saving moves.  He can try to trade Brendan Smith just to clear his salary.  That means trading Smith and a high draft pick for a lower round pick or some warm bodies.  Marc Staal could also be trade bait to a team looking for veteran defense help if he is willing to waive his no movement clause.  The final nuclear other option is a Lundqvist buyout after the season.

The accident

As much as keeping Kreider will help the Rangers’ playoff dreams, it’s offset by the injury to Shesterkin.  Georgiev and Lundqvist don’t have Igor’s cloak of invulnerability, but the team knows it can win behind Georgiev and it will interesting to see how Lundqvist reacts to this new lease on life.

One note of caution when it comes to Shesterkin.  When they say that they will re-evaluate him in two weeks, that means he will be out longer. So, if the Blueshirts expect to make playoff hay, it will be with the netminding tandem that got them through the first half of the season.

Can we all say thank you for the three headed goalie monster?

The lineup

What will the lineup look like tomorrow night against the New York Islanders?  We won’t know until after 3pm this afternoon.  There are still teams with needs and if the names make sense, there will be deals.   Stay tuned.