Edmundson and Haula could boost Rangers’ defensive play

Erik Haula, Center, UFA

Plus

The 29-year-old pivot would provide a major upgrade on faceoffs and defensive coverage. In 418 career NHL games, he’s posted solid numbers on draws (51.3%), Corsi-for (50%), and Fenwick-For (50%). Additionally, he’s got 85 goals, 90 assists, and a plus-19 rating.

Last season, he won 55 percent of his draws while skating for Carolina and the Florida Panthers. He also averaged 15:46 of ice time, had a CF% of 50.6, and notched 12 goals and 12 assists. All for a cap hit of just $2.75 million.

Evolvinghockey.com projects a four-year deal worth $3.9 million per. If the Rangers can’t re-sign versatile and chemistry guy Jesper Fast, Haula would fill in nicely behind Zibanejad and Ryan Strome.

Or, the Blueshirts could really go all in on defense and re-sign Fast, while inking Haukla and letting Strome skate away as an RFA. Fast is projected to receive a four-year deal at $3 million per.

Strome, 27, has scored 18 goals in each of the past two seasons since coming to the Rangers from the Edmonton Oilers in a trade for Ryan Spooner. Last season, Strome posted single-season career highs in assists (41), points (59), and plus-minus (plus-21).

However, he also carried a cap hit of $3.1 million and is projected to receive an offer of five years at $5.6 million annually.

Do the Rangers spend some $11 million to retain Strome and DeAngelo? Or do they use that to bring back Fast and sign Edmundson and Haula for close to $12 million? For the extra million or so, I’ll take a physical defensive blueliner, good faceoff pivot, and retain one of the game’s most versatile forwards (who, incidentally, is a great chemistry guy).

Minus

In terms of offensive production, Strome is clearly better than Haula (Strome has 95 goals and 159 assists in 491 career games). However, but Stromes also worse on draws (45.9%) and a bigger defensive liability (with 232 takeaways to 296 giveaways). Strome holds the edge over Haula in per-game averages in goals (0.19 to 0.12) and points (0.52 to 0.43). But is that worth the extra $1.7 million or so it’ll take to re-sign Strome than to ink Haula?

The bottom line

The Rangers made their big splashes last off-season, signing Panarin and trading for (and extending) Trouba. They need to be thrifty shoppers this time around. The big names might boost the team’s bottom line, but the bargains will build depth and make the Blueshirts a harder team to play against, if not a legitimate Stanley Cup threat.