What do the New York Rangers do with Libor Hajek

In the NHL, there are players that divide opinion and players that unify the fans. Libor Hajek is the first player I’ve ever seen every fan united on their opinion of him in a negative way, it’s quite the crowning achievement. Hajek seems to be someone that everyone has agreed in the statement that his displays are often underwhelming and insufficient for a team trying to contend for the Stanley Cup.

With some of Hajek’s critics saying that the Czech defenseman just isn’t good enough to play at the NHL level, New York needs to find a solution. He’s currently written in as the 3rd choice defenseman on the left and will likely be on the roster for the duration of the year. What this does mean is that Hajek is likely going to feature a lot. Whether you like it or not, we will likely end up seeing number 25 more than you want.

With Hajek penciled into the lineup as it is, it seems very unlikely that management will see Hajek the same way we do as fans. It’s likely beyond all doubt that

It raises the question what do the Rangers do with Hajek from here? Hajek was acquired from Tampa Bay during the 2017-18 season in the deal that sent McDonagh and Miller to the sunshine state. Now, he seems to be the guy on the blueline everyone that doesn’t get paid by the organization wants to ship on the next bus out of town to whatever city or state will take him. So how do you move him?

Hajek could be waived and sent down to Hartford, but there is the worry of waivers and losing a player for nothing is never good. There is the hope he would get waived again within 30 days or before he plays 10 games and the Rangers were the only team to claim him back, but that seems like a lot of hassle for a defenseman that I think every person in New York would like to see moved on at this point.

So that leaves the trade market. Hajek makes just $800,000 this year. He’s not the most expensive and someone would likely be willing to take a flier on cheap depth. Perhaps a cheaper team like Arizona or a team in the depths of a rebuild like Chicago would be a good fit for the forward. At this point, it’s unclear, but we will see what happens as we approach the start of the season.

Question for Blue Line Station readers: What do you think the team should do with Hajek?