New York Rangers: Exploring a trade for Tomáš Hertl

Hertl has one year left and could be made available by the Sharks.

With the San Jose Sharks not expected to be a playoff team, there is a good chance that they may move Hertl by the end of this season. He only has one year remaining on his contract and has yet to express any sort of commitment to re-signing with them. In fact, when asked about his future with the team, he did not seem particularly enthused about signing an extension.

If San Jose wants to play it safe and not risk losing him for nothing, they could look to trade as soon as before the start of the season. If he is officially made available, it would be very likely to hear that the Rangers are interested in his services. Not only is he a gifted forward who can play both center and left wing, but his $5.625 million cap hit wouldn’t be too hard for the Rangers to take on.

As we previously established, the Rangers have a surplus of prospects. It also is important to remember that they have young players like Alexis Lafrenière, Kaapo Kakko and K’Andre Miller who are still getting better at the NHL level. A lot of the Rangers’ top prospects also happen to be defensemen and wingers, so one has to wonder how many of them will inevitably need to be moved. Thus, the Rangers do have the assets to make a potential swap.

Speaking of young forwards, the Rangers are expected to give Lafrenière, Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov bigger roles this season. This is especially the case after the Pavel Buchnevich trade. However, if they feel that they could use a little bit of a boost offensively with a proven veteran, Hertl could be someone the Rangers pursue immediately. He would give them a proven top-six forward and make them look even better on paper. Yet, due to Hertl’s modified no-movement clause, he would need to accept a deal, of course.

Ryan Strome, who has been in the rumor mill all off-season, would have to be traded, though. Hertl would be brought in for the second-line center role and seems like a probable upgrade.

In the last two seasons, the pair averaged an identical .26 goals per game. Yet, at even strength, Hertl had .27 goals per game, while Strome had .21. In terms of overall production, Strome had an .86 points per game rate and Hertl was just behind him at .81 points per game.

However, it is very important to remember that Strome played with a superstar in Artemi Panarin. Hertl, on the other hand, did not have a linemate anywhere close to Panarin’s ability and still produced very similar numbers. On a line with Panarin, Hertl could see his offensive totals go up significantly.

Hertl is much more successful at faceoffs, as he’s won over 50% of them in each of his last four seasons. Strome, on the other hand, has been under 50% in every season he’s been with the Rangers. Last year was his worst one at the dot, as he won just 43.2% of them.