Reviewing the Four 2023 Rangers NHL Trade Deadline Additions
As the New York Rangers were pushing for a chance at the Stanley Cup, the 2023 deadline became the time for the Blueshirts to push everything forward and try to put themselves in a position to compete for the Stanley Cup. There were glaring weaknesses on the roster, but as the team was in the Eastern Conference Finals the year before, it seemed logical for Chris Drury and the front office to try and bolster the roster.
There would be three traded that greatly affected the roster. Each trade addressed a different issue that was supposed to bolster a roster that needed to be competitive. As Chris Drury was trying to make this roster better for the playoffs, the idea was to add talent and depth wherever possible. There wasn’t anything particularly crippling given up from the Rangers’ supply of future assets either.
Ultimately, the Rangers’ failure to escape the first round will make sure that these additions were seen as failures by most of the neutrals. For the New York Rangers front office, the success of these deals will not be judged until they know that they are unable to bring back any of the players they added in an attempt to go deep this season. It’s very unlikely given the current cap issues but if they can bring back a few, it’ll help ease the pain a little.
For the deals with the St Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, and Chicago Blackhawks, some are better than others as certain pieces had better postseasons than some of the others that were picked up as the Blueshirts pushed. Some of these players turned out to be what the Rangers were hoping, some were better than expected, and some did not live up to expectations at all. With the somber news of the Rangers’ season-ending still in the air, let’s take a look.
The Trade with St Louis
This trade looked fine when it was made, and it doesn’t even look particularly bad now. New York used one of its 1st round picks to make this deal happen and it became clear that the Blueshirts wanted to be aggressive when they made this deal. Bo Horvat had just come off the trade bait boards after he was dealt to the New York Islanders. Drury and company decided they had to do something, and so they did.
Vladimir Tarasenko came into the organization and immediately looked like the Rangers had fixed the glaring issue in their top six. That right-wing needed help and when the Russian winger was added to the Rangers ranks, the Blueshirts looked like they were going to be able to go deep. Unfortunately, hindsight is twenty-twenty and we know that it was not the case but the deal made a ton of sense.
Tarasenko had 4 points in the playoffs, including 3 goals. You can say that most of the Rangers’ forward core didn’t turn up, but Tarasenko scored enough to justify the addition in my opinion. Whether you believe the issue was coaching, effort, or a combination of things, Tarasenko came very much as advertised and he was a big addition to this Rangers roster. Not to mention, he wasn’t the only piece in this deal.
Niko Mikkola came across and the Finnish defenseman was one of the most underrated players on the roster for my money. He never did anything special but for a third-pairing defenseman, that is more than fine. He keeps the lines fresh and proved he can play major minutes when K’Andre Miller was ejected and the Rangers couldn’t play Braden Schnieder due to the risk of injury to make another deal happen.
When Ryan Lindgren was hurt and unable to play for the final quarter of the season, Niko Mikkola slotted onto that top pairing and looked right at home. He is a fine skater and proved that he could rover around the ice well enough and make it clear he could fill in and play well enough to not notice the difference. He is a strong, big, physical defenseman and he was a great addition. A nice spot for the pro-scouting team to nab him.
In terms of what they gave up, Dallas’ first round is the big trade bait piece. With Dallas making it to round two, it’s going to be after the Rangers pick. It was a condition on the deal that the Blues received the later of the two picks the Rangers owned in the draft and we know that after the only Ranger to turn up in game 7 was Shesterkin. Losing Blais and Skinner hurt, but neither will bite the Blueshirts in all likelihood.
The Ottawa Senators’ deal
After the big St Louis deal, the Rangers front office decided that they needed a bottom-six forward to help fill the roster out after losing some pieces in said deal with the Blues. That’s acceptable given that depth is key for deep playoff runs. You need your depth to play well and you will become an almost unstoppable force. If it works well in partnership with your star talent, you have the ability to push deep and compete for the cup.
With that in mind, the Rangers went out to acquire a familiar face in Tyler Motte with the idea to bolster both the bottom six and the penalty kill. Motte is a serviceable bottom-six forward who knows the organization well after he was a trade acquisition at the deadline last year. He knew most of the players that were still with the Blueshirts from the year prior, and it seemed like a natural fit.
Motte was a major success for the Rangers. He has been a great penalty killer, he has been a great depth forward, he drew penalties in big moments for his team, and he really showed up when the team didn’t. When the team needed him, he answered and did everything he could to get the Rangers in a position to win hockey games. It was not his fault that the season ended the way it did and he found himself having a strong game seven.
To acquire Motte, the Rangers gave up a 7th-round pick that became a 6th if they got out of the first round. That didn’t happen so it remains a 7th. They also parted with Julien Gauthier who has some solid tools but just couldn’t quite put it all together in New York. That is not going to come back to bite the Rangers in all likelihood so this was another good deal that seemed to help the team.
The Chicago Blackhawks Trade
After the Rangers acquired a top-six winger from the St Louis Blues, there was a disappointed player for the Chicago Blackhawks who thought he was going to come home to New York and play for a team that has a chance to win the Stanley Cup. It just so happened that this player is probably the best American-born player of all time, Patrick Kane. When that came out, the rumors started circulating immediately.
The New York Rangers did not have enough cap space for Patrick Kane even half retained from the Chicago Blackhawks, so the Blueshirts had to pay for a middleman. It’s why the Arizona Coyotes were involved, they are the NHL’s equivalent of an off-shore bank account in the Virgin Islands. When you need something cheaper, you funnel it through Arizona. They gave up a 3rd round pick for that retention of $2.625 million.
The 2023 2nd they gave up was supposed to become a 1st round pick if the Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. This was not the case as the team fell flat on its face so it will remain a 2nd round pick. It means New York keeps its own first-round pick after giving up the Dallas pick to St Louis. It’s a small inclusion, but it’s a good move from Chris Drury to put a safety valve on a deal like this.
For those that are wondering who Cooper Zech is, don’t worry. He’s a minor leaguer that had to be included in this deal for the collective bargaining agreement to allow Patrick Kane to come to Manhattan after being moved through Arizona. Everyone needs to acquire something from everyone else in a multiteam deal and Zech is just filling that for Chicago since Kane was technically coming from Arizona.
As for Kane himself, he was utterly disappointing as a Ranger. A complete ghost in the playoffs despite the Rangers needing him desperately, the newest addition to the Blueshirts roster was unable to get any foothold providing just a single goal. He had five assists but the majority of that came in games one and two when the Rangers were crushing the New Jersey Devils.