Should the New York Rangers keep Ryan Strome?

Intangibles

There a several intangibles when it comes to Ryan Strome.  The first is his relationship to Artemi Panarin.  Does Strome really want his asking price to make the Rangers deal him and force a divorce from the player who helped him to his best season ever?  Do the Rangers want to break up a tandem that also benefited their marquee free agent and best player?

Another issue is the Seattle expansion draft , only one year away.  Another long term contract for the Rangers means that’s  one more player that they may need to protect.

There is the issue of how much Strome wants to remain a New York Ranger.  He spent four years with the Islanders, never living up to the promise he showed in his second, 50 point season.  His time in Edmonton was pretty much a disappointment and when he came to the Rangers it was seen as a last chance for him to revive his career. He seems genuinely happy to be a Blueshirt and his relationship with David Quinn is a good one.

We’ve gone over the salary cap issues and that will be resolved when the cap is set for the 2020-21 season.  Perhaps the benchmark should be Jordan Eberle,  the player that Strome was traded for in 2017.  Eberle was a UFA last summer and re-signed with the Islanders for five years and $27.5 million, an AAV of $5.5 million.

In the last two years before signing that deal, here’s how he compared to Strome’s last two seasons.

Eberle:  159 games, 44 goals, 52 assists,  97 points
Strome:  151 games, 37 goals, 57 assists,  94 points

It’s a matter of money

Unfortunately, it’s all going to come down to money. if Strome is willing to take a home town discount, the Rangers could lock him down with a five year deal that would give them a reliable top three center for years to come.

If his price is too high, they could risk going to arbitration and end up getting stuck with a bad contract in a year that they have no cap flexibility.   If they are forced to give him a big raise, they may have to sacrifice other pieces of the team they would prefer to keep.

A lot depends on where they see the team’s situation at center in the coming years.  Mika Zibanejad is firmly set as the top center on the team.  Filip Chytil showed enough progress to be able to slot him in as the second or third line center of the future.   Can Brett Howden raise his game so he is more han a third line options and  how much did Lias Andersson implode his career with the Rangers?  If Morgan Barron turns pro this summer, it could help establish the pipeline.