The first major event of the offseason has come and gone now that the draft is all wrapped up. We now turn our attention to Wednesday when the free agent frenzy begins at 12 noon. The NY Rangers have some decisions to be made with key members of this past season’s team set to become unrestricted free agents, leaving holes in the lineup, especially the top-six forward group.
The Rangers should go after Patrick Kane if he requests a trade out of Chicago to help fill out their top-six forward group. A potential acquisition of Kane comes with a lot of pros and cons, but I think that the pros far outweigh the cons.
Pros of NY Rangers acquiring Patrick Kane
Kane may be 34 years old but he is still putting up elite numbers. Last season he had 92 points which tied him for 14th best in NHL. He also had 66 assists which was good enough for seventh in the NHL. Kane did this all while playing on a Chicago team that was tied for fourth-worst in goals per game.
Kane also brings championship experience to this still young team. ESPN made it painstakingly obvious that the Lightning had more experience in the Eastern Conference Finals, as they nearly tripled the Rangers in games played.
If the Rangers were to trade for Kane they’d be reuniting him with his former linemate in Chicago, Artemi Panarin. Last year the Rangers struggled to generate offense at 5 on 5. One of those reasons for that was the lack of talent on the second line. Panarin played most of last year with Ryan Strome and Dryden Hunt as his linemates.
That line combo played 288.7 minutes/32 games together, which was highest on the Rangers. The line also had an xgoals % of 48.9% and also had a higher xgoals against and xgoals against per 60 than they did goals for in those two categories.
Cons of NY Rangers acquiring Patrick Kane
The rumors of a potential Kane acquisition has really divided the fans. As I mentioned early Kane’s potential acquisition isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. The first problem is that Kane has an expensive contract. He has one year left at $10.5 million.
The Rangers couldn’t afford his contract and would need the Blackhawks to retain 50% of the contract in order to make a deal work, which leads to my next point. Kane is still an elite player which means the price to acquire him could be steep even with only a year left on his deal. If the Blackhawks had to eat 50% of the contract, the price could increase.
We don’t know the asking price on Kane or if he wants out of Chicago, but with the return Chicago got on some of their other players maybe the Rangers get a steal.
The other con to acquiring Kane would be that his cap hit still leaves the Rangers with a big issue, and that is the second-line center position. The Rangers have a projected $10.2 million in cap space and Kane at $5.25 million would leave them in a tough position to fill out the rest of the roster, including finding a number two center.
One solution to the number two center spot could be to promote Filip Chytil. Playing with two dynamic wingers would benefit him and increase his point production for sure, but it does leave the bottom six a little lacking.
Some smaller cons of acquiring Kane would be on the power play. Kane would take the spot that would be open if Strome walks in free agency. The hope would be that Lafreniere or Kakko jump into that spot. Also, Kane is a phenomenal passer, and would that make power play too pass happy?
The Rangers are in a tough position right now. They have a young core but are tight on cap. With the cap slowly going up the Rangers cup window isn’t as large as we thought. When you have a chance to get a player like Kane to help you win a cup you go for it.