A simple, yet memorable off-season for the Rangers

The New York Rangers didn’t make their traditional waves in the off-season via trade or free agency, but instead, the Blueshirts made the necessary moves.

The word “off-season” feels all wrong this year. This year, there wasn’t hockey when there should have been. Then there was hockey when there shouldn’t have been…Not that we’re complaining! No one is complaining, but we should be a month into the 2020-21 season already. We should be walking up from Penn Station and seating ourselves six stories up from street level in the Mecca of hockey, Madison Square Garden, preparing to respond to that canary whistle that signals that it’s time to once again pick apart Denis Potvin.

We should be trekking in from our respective boroughs and overpaying for beer and a night of entertainment. We should be donning our whites and our blues and cheering for our boys in coordinating colors. Hell, these are just a few of a thousand things we should be doing this year, but instead, we’re still stuck in the classic Bill Murray flick, Groundhog Day, waiting for 2020 to end.

What’s also off is how the New York Rangers handled this off-season. Fans have come to expect a far more active excursion. Look no further than the past four years for evidence of this.

Last summer, in 2019, the Rangers won the Artemi Panarin sweepstakes. They traded for Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba and then drafted Kaapo Kakko. Earlier in the year, they traded away hometown heroes, Mats Zuccarello, and Kevin Hayes.

2018 was the year of the infamous letter to the fans. J.T. Miller, Ryan McDonagh, and Rick Nash were all shipped out before the trade deadline. This in turn brought in a slew of young players that are just now starting to crack the roster. The biggest free agent of 2018 was bringing in Head Coach, David Quinn, from Boston University.

2017 was the arrival of Kevin Shattenkirk and a problematic Tony DeAngelo.  2016 was the awkward acquisition of Eric Staal, the Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes, the departure of Keith Yandle, and the trade of Derick Brassard for Mika Zibanejad.

Every year, something major happens around the organization. Each off-season has made headlines in one way or another. Trades and signings abound!

Now, in some ways, this year is similar and in some ways, this year is completely different. Some of which for the right reasons and some for the wrong.

Here’s a look at the positive and questionable moves of the 2020 off-season:

Alexis Lafrenière

The most notable and the most obvious move of the “summer” is the drafting and signing of the future Calder Trophy hopeful, Alexis Lafrenière. There’s very little that hasn’t already been said about the first-ever first-overall selection in the New York Rangers’ history. Lafrenière is a tremendous talent and already finds himself compared with an elite company. The skilled winger is essentially a lock for a roster spot and is expected to make an immediate impact.

Despite it being a sheer stroke of luck, drafting Alexis Lafrenière is the defining addition of the off-season, and had the pandemic stars not aligned just so, it’s highly unlikely that the New York Rangers would have walked away with the first-overall pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

Marc Staal

Thank you, Detroit. Thank you for giving Marc Staal a home, because he deserves an opportunity to still play… just not for the Rangers.

Marc Staal was once the most beloved defenseman on the New York Rangers roster. He was a shutdown player night in and night out; taking on the opposition’s best shift after shift. However, we are a few years and a couple of injuries removed from that version of Marc Staal. Staal finds himself on the ice far too often in negative scenarios and fans have called for him to be traded for several seasons now. Luckily, Detroit was willing to take on the last year of his contract and Staal was willing to waive his No Movement Clause.

After thirteen years of servitude, it was time to part with the former alternate captain. Cap relief was the biggest need of the off-season and yes, the relief did cost the New York Rangers a second-round pick, but ridding themselves of Marc Staal’s $5.7 million contract allowed for the…

Re-signing of key players

With the ink just now drying on Ryan Strome’s newest contract, the New York Rangers were able to keep restricted free agents, Ryan Strome, Tony DeAngelo, and Brendan Lemieux. For the majority of the season, it was speculated that the Rangers wouldn’t be able to bring back all three of these players. However, thanks to Jeff Gorton’s ability to free up cap space, the New York Rangers were able to fulfill the biggest need of the off-season – retention.

Ryan Strome signed for $4.5 million AAV for 2 years.

Tony DeAngelo signed for $4.8 million AAV for 2 years.

Brendan Lemieux signed for $1.55 million AAV for 2 years.

All three of these contracts are team-friendly deals and all three players are coming off of career seasons. Strome has 59 points in 70 games played. Tony DeAngelo had 53 points in 68 games played. Brendan Lemieux had18 points and 111 penalty minutes in 59 games played.

Each of these players provides a different texture to the fabric of this team. Each of these players shows up their fans and all three of them could have demanded more. It remains to be seen if Strome can repeat this year’s performance or if DeAngelo can provide more than just an offensive game or if Lemieux can provide more than a physical presence, but now all three of them have two years to show the Rangers’ front office that they can.