Is Phil Kessel a Rangers trade target?

The New York Rangers need some help at forward, especially with the loss of Sammy Blais for the rest of the season.  They have not had much success replacing Pavel Buchnevich on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.   They’ve used Blais and now Barclay Goodrow, but so far, it hasn’t worked. Goodrow is an excellent defensive player, but he hasn’t complemented his linemates.

How bad is it?  The trio has played 81 minutes of five-on-five ice time.  They’ve generated 56 shot attempts while giving up 91, resulting in a horrible Corsi For rating of 38.10%   That has translated into only 31 of 81 scoring chances and 16 of 39 high danger chances when they are on the ice together. Surprisingly, they have scored five goals as a line while giving up four.

With Buchnevich last season, the line had a 47.42% Corsi For rating and outscored the competition 14-8 and had more scoring chances with 119 to 118.

This season, the new top line is lagging far behind the Strome-Panarin-Kakko trio (50.76% Corsi For) and is behind the newly united Chytil-Gauthier-Lafrenière line (48.39% Corsi For). They’ve even done worse than the Rooney-Reaves-Hunt line at generating shot attempts.

The mediocre showing has been camouflaged by Chris Kreider’s hot start and also by the fact that Zibanejad and Kreider have padded their statistics on the power play.  It’s at even strength that there is a problem.

It’s easy to pin the blame on Barclay Goodrow, but that is not fair.  He was never signed to be a top six player.  Sure, he is versatile enough to step into that role temporarily, but a Rangers team with Goodrow on the top line is an issue.  Goodrow’s strength is battling for the puck along the boards while Kreider’s strength is getting deflections from outside the crease.  The only player on the line that can claim that puck carrying is a strength is Zibanejad and that makes it easier to defend against the trio.

You have to believe that this is no mystery to Chris Drury and that he is scouring the NHL looking for a potential trade partner.  He has young assets to deal and the Rangers have proven that they are a playoff contender. With the mandate to win now, he has to be considering all options and Phil Kessel may be the solution.

A home grown answer

In a perfect world, the answer would be Vitali Kravtsov, but that ship has sailed (at least until the KHL season is over).    The Rangers don’t want to break up the Strome line since it is working and while Julien Gauthier could be an answer, the “kid line” is developing some chemistry and should be left alone.  Ditto for Filip Chytil, a player that some believe is better suited as a winger.  Coach Gallant recently said he believes that Chytil will be a top six center in the NHL, so scratch that.

So, what about the Wolf Pack?   The Rangers could try Hartford’s leading scorer, Jonny Brodzinski, who has four goals and 15 points in 14 games.  He is a natural center, but can also play the right wing.  Morgan Barron is an option, but the Rangers have said that they want him to develop as a center instead of a winger.

A Hartford option is really not optimal for New York and they would probably be better off with Goodrow and his NHL experience.  Right now, the best option would be to swap Gauthier and Goodrow based on the small sample size of recent games.

Why not Kessel?

As soon as you say Phil Kessel’s name, the naysayers will start screaming.  He’s old. He’s past his prime.  He’s expensive.  He stinks.

Okay, he is 34 years old, but he’s been playing over 17 minutes a game for Arizona.   Is he past his prime?  He has only three goals and eight points in 17 games for a bad team, but he scored 20 goals and had 43 points last season to lead the Coyotes.  He is also very durable and hasn’t missed a game since 2009.  He is second to Keith Yandle with a streak of 917 games and actually holds the NHL record for consecutive games played including playoffs with 1,009 (and counting).

True, he is making $6.8 million,but he is in the last year of an eight-year contract and the Coyotes could conceivably retain half of that salary in a trade.  The Rangers currently have over $7 million in cap space.

Does he stink?  That’s debatable and the question is whether he would be a better right winger on a line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.   Would a two-time Stanley Cup champion see his career revitalized if he was to join a playoff contender instead of playing for the worst team in the NHL?

Rangers are “on the hunt”

According to insiders, the Rangers aren’t close to making a deal and they are dealing from a position of strength with their good start.  Darren Dreger of TSN had this to say on their “Insider Trading” segment on Thursday. “Chris Drury, the general manager for the New York Rangers, is looking for a middle-six forward, which isn’t a term we use often in hockey. That can be a third-line player or someone who can punch into the top six. But U.S. Thanksgiving normally nudges the trade market a little, so there’s nothing on the front burner but definitely Rangers are on the hunt.”

The question is whether Drury is looking for a short term rental for the rest of this season with the hope that Kravtsov or Lauri Pajuniemi will be ready to step in next season.  If that is what Drury is looking to do, Kessel is the only right winger who fits the Rangers’ needs  currently playing for a team that is not going to make the playoffs.

The other option is that Drury is hoping that Kravtsov raises his value in the KHL and he can get a NHL-ready winger in a trade for the Russian winger.  He can certainly sweeten the pot, but there’s a lot of uncertainty.

Incidentally, Kravtsov was scoreless Friday in his third game for Traktor, a 1-0 loss to Neftekhimik.  He did lead Traktor with five shots on goal.