Should The Rangers Trade Alexandar Georgiev?

Compliance Buyout Options

If Lundqvist stays, and the cap remains the same–or decreases–something has to give for the Rangers to keep the best team possible. No one knows what’s going to happen with the cap, but if compliance buyouts are offered, here’s an easy one…

Bye bye, Brendan Smith. Smith offers pros and cons for a team that must be considered before buying him out. Pro–he plays both forward and defense. Con–he plays neither position well anymore. Another con–his cap hit of $4.35 million dollars.

The Rangers would be better served buying out Smith instead of say Henrik Lundqvist or Marc Staal. Both Staal and Lundqvist don’t earn their current cap hits with their on-ice play. However, both have a wealth of experience to teach the kids how to navigate a season when you’re expected to make the playoffs–and to help deal with the pressures of playing in the postseason. (After all, isn’t that one of the main reasons why Chris Kreider was given the extension?)

Short-term, Smith’s unceremonious exit accomplishes several things–it rids Jeff Gorton of a colossal mistake he made resigning Smith; it gives Gorton an additional $4.35 million dollars in flexibility to squeeze in the restricted free agents best suited to come back (like Tony DeAngelo, Brendan Lemieux, and Ryan Strome at the right cost and term–and yes, this means that the Rangers have to let Fast walk in free agency, as they should if they want to create a third line that can contribute offensively and put Kaapo Kakko in the best position to further his development); it makes the team better because of Smith’s penchant for taking dumb penalties (Lemieux is also guilty of this); and it frees up a roster spot for the one of the young defensive prospects.

This move may mean moving DeAngelo onto the left side–something that he’s comfortable with–and pairing him with Jacob Trouba; Ryan Lindgren and Adam Fox remaining together (and in truth most likely the team’s top defensive pairing); and Nils Lundkvist and Marc Staal as the team’s third pair. If Lundkvist needs time adjusting to North American hockey, the Rangers could call up Libor Hajek or sign a veteran defenseman as a one-year stopgap.

If there are no compliance buyouts, things get much more complicated. However, one option that shouldn’t be on the table is amnesty buyouts. The Rangers already have far too much dead cap space, and they can’t keep kicking this can down the road. If there aren’t buyouts and the cap remains at $81.5 million, that may leave only $13.8 million to resign their RFAs. This would force Gorton’s hands for some uncomfortable decisions. Obviously, one of those decisions–trading Georgiev–is one that I’m advocating to begin with. However, another one may be having to deal Ryan Strome or DeAngelo.

Remember, both Lundqvist and Staal’s contracts end after next season, so their cap hits won’t be a future problem. Now you have a team that’s set up to make a playoff run next year, while learning from veterans to prepare the youngsters to compete for the Cup for years.