Maybe not Eichel, but the Rangers need a center

There has been a lot of speculation about the New York Rangers making a play for Jack Eichel.  Other names bandied about have included Florida’s Aleksander Barkov and Nashville’s Filip Forsberg.  If any of these top line centers are going to be available you can be sure that the Blueshirts will be contenders for a few simple reasons.  First and foremost, they need a number one center.  Second, they have the young assets to offer in a trade.

All of this social media chatter has been amplified because of the inexplicable decline in the play of Mika Zibanejad, the Rangers’ de facto top center.

The Zibanejad factor

Mika Zibanejad’s decline has amplified the Rangers’ need for a top center.  It is also presenting the team with a difficult decision. If the Swede had picked up where he left off at the end of the 2019-20 season, the Rangers’ tough decision would have been whether to sign him to a long term contract for big dollars when he would be 29 years old.  Now, they have to decide if they want to sign him at all.

If his season doesn’t improve, there is virtually no chance that they will sign him to an extension this summer unless he is willing to sign a bargain basement deal.  The Rangers will have to let him finish out this campaign and see how he does in 2021-22.  If his decline is related to COVID-19, he could revert to form and be in line for a big payday as a free agent in the summer of 2022.   That’s the gamble that the Rangers will have to take.