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Why couldn’t the New York Rangers bring back Tyler Motte?

By Conor Power |
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 03: Tyler Motte #64 of the New York Rangers fights with Cal Foote #52 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on June 03, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 03: Tyler Motte #64 of the New York Rangers fights with Cal Foote #52 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on June 03, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 03: Tyler Motte #64 of the New York Rangers fights with Cal Foote #52 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on June 03, 2022, in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JUNE 03: Tyler Motte #64 of the New York Rangers fights with Cal Foote #52 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on June 03, 2022, in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

News broke yesterday regarding deadline pickup Tyler Motte. His contract expired when free agency opened back in July and just days before the training camps around the league started, Motte signed a one year with the Ottawa Senators worth $1.35 million against the cap and this has a lot of New York Rangers fans upset due to the affordability of this player. So why didn’t Drury make this happen knowing Motte was a fit for this young team?

Well, cap space in and of itself is the major roadblock. New York has around $1 million in space to make a deal work. Motte made $1.35 million so what was the major roadblock? Why couldn’t Drury and the front office sort out an arrangement for Motte to rejoin the team that acquired him from Vancouver at the trade deadline in March? Cap doesn’t seem to be the main issue with this deal.

If Motte was going to come back, the Rangers likely would have had to lock a spot for their younger forwards and prospects. Doing that when the expectation is that the Rangers may not be as good this year as they were last year would have locked the Rangers into stagnation with their current iteration of the roster. Motte is a nice depth piece but having the free spot right now is more valuable.

I know I said cap didn’t play a part in this, but that’s not entirely true. New York currently has enough cap space to call up a singular player if there was to be an injury. Trying to retain Motte would have meant a single injury could have landed the entire roster in hot water given that there is very little flexibility. It’s been difficult to project the Rangers roster as it is and it will not get easier before the roster is announced.

I’ve seen the argument made that “Canada is a more expensive market” and while that is true, New York isn’t exactly cheap. The difference isn’t enough to reasonably be a major factor. It’s not like the alternative was Dallas. It would have been nice to keep him, but it obviously didn’t happen. New York will see their deadline acquisition three times this season in Ottawa colors, but that question of his stay in New York will be a driving point in them all.

Question for Blue Line Station readers: Do you think letting Motte walk was a mistake?

Next. Should the Rangers look to acquire Horvat?. dark

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