Key players the NY Rangers should keep and trade this offseason
There are several trades that the NY Rangers could be looking at during the offseason. Some of those involved in the Rangers organization trade talks are unrestricted free agents Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp, among several other players.
Restricted free agent Alexandar Georgiev is another player the Rangers will be looking at. Here are the key players that should stay and go. First, I will start off with who should go.
NY Rangers: Who should go?
As some of you know, I was a big advocate for getting rid of Alexandar Georgiev because his stats were horrific. I made it clear early on I was not a fan of him in the latter part of the season. Honestly, I did see some improvement during his last 10 regular season games.
He went 8-1-0 during this period. He was the starting goalie in the game on March 22, 2022, but was replaced by Igor Shesterkin. Shesterkin ended up with the loss as the Rangers lost 7-4 that game against their division rivals, the New Jersey Devils.
Georgiev had a save percentage of .908 during that time. This obviously could be better, but most of them were W’s for Georgiev, thanks to goal support from the rest of his team. With that said, I am still on the fence about Georgiev though. Give him another chance? That’s debatable.
NY Rangers: Who to keep?
Options. Options. Options. There are so many notable players that the Rangers really need to focus on. One of these is Ryan Strome. He has been a great asset to the team. He has had his moments of leaving fans scratching their heads, but overall, he has been great.
This season, Strome has 54 points in 74 games. He has nine points in 19 games for the playoffs. He has taken a few too many penalties, which most of the time were dumb. I don’t mean dumb because I thought they were bad calls from the refs. I mean dumb because they were bad moves on Strome’s part. This is one factor that I was getting frustrated with.
On the bright side, he has matched up well with the Artemi Panarin line. The Breadman had 96 points in 75 games this season and 16 points in 20 games for the playoffs. Nice!
I would keep Strome, but this brings more issues.
What about Andrew Copp? Get rid of him? NO! He did such a good job from the time the Rangers acquired him, so getting rid of him would be like taking out the jelly in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It just doesn’t make sense.
Going back to what I said about the issue the Rangers are in. Their dilemma is the salary cap space at approximately $12 M. It would be really hard for the Rangers to keep both Strome AND Copp. It may look as though one player would be able to stay and the other one traded. I would love for them to keep both because of what they each bring to the team.
NY Rangers: The final analysis
If the Rangers are able to keep Strome and Copp, I think that would be very beneficial to them and the team. Ethan Hetu of Pro Hockey Rumors said it best that It would pretty much wipe out their salary cap space though. This would be harder to make deals with other players down the line that they plan on keeping.
A couple of these players are K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere. I would think the Rangers definitely want to keep them both, but this would be rather difficult if they spent a ton of money now. I see Hetu’s point. Don’t spend a bunch of money now on two players, just to possibly screw up the chances of re-signing other much-needed great players.
Miller had an excellent season, especially defensively. Lafreniere is a youngster who showed people what he could do. He is still learning, only be 20-years-old, but he had his share of moments offensively and defensively.
Should the Rangers take the chance to keep Strome and Copp? Or is giving at least one of them up for the sake of Miller, Lafreniere, and others worth it? I would do what I can to keep these four players, even if it means giving up current players in their organization, as well as possible first and second-round draft picks.
Why would I do this? It is simple. The Rangers put on a show like no other. Not one person projected the Rangers to do what they did. They were not even supposed to be in the playoffs. They were in the middle of rebuilding and were expected to be something maybe a couple of years down the line. Why would the Rangers give up the players that helped put them to do the unexpected? I know Copp was a late addition, but what he did with the team was nothing short of amazing.
Hot. NY Rangers must address this key position in the 2022 NHL Draft. light
Am I out of my mind? Is it wishful thinking on my part? Maybe a little bit of both. What are your thoughts on it? Do you have other players in mind to get rid of or replace those I’ve mentioned? I am sure we can all agree on one thing: Let’s go Rangers!