Barclay Goodrow Named on The Athletic’s Trade Bait Board

Everyone in hockey knows that the New York Rangers need help given their current salary cap situation. Major young pieces such as Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller will be in need of new contracts. Pieces like Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, Niko Mikkola, Tyler Motte, and Jaroslav Halak are all unrestricted free agents too so it is a difficult time for the Blueshirts. They need to be smart with how they manage their money.

The most popular way among fans to make this money is to move on from bottom-six forward and two-time Stanley Cup champion Barclay Goodrow. This has recently come to light that people within the Athletic expect Goodrow to be one of the names linked with a move away from New York to clear cap space to lock up this young core for the future. It makes sense given Goodrow’s age and cap situation too.

Goodrow is 30 years old and making more than $3.6 million a year against the cap. $3,641,667 if you want to be exact about it and he makes it next season and the two seasons after. That is a lot of money for a man that has only put up 30 points in each of the last two seasons. He was a key contributor to that Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup-winning roster but he’s not allowed the New York Rangers to have the same success and he may be on his way out as a result.

Due to the awkward cap hit, buying Goodrow out is possible but it’s not ideal. To ensure a deal is buyout proof, you load it up with bonuses. Goodrow’s deal doesn’t have that, just a minor $1.25 million signing bonus in the final season. This also makes it quite an attractive deal for a team that just got its new proposal for an arena declined and now has to find cheaper players to flush out the roster.

Whether Goodrow is dumped a la Patrik Nemeth I’m not so certain about due to the fact Goodrow is usable. There are times when having Barclay Goodrow at $1.5 million against the cap would be so good for the Rangers. It’s the fact it’s 3.5 that makes it a little difficult to keep him on the roster moving forward. Seeing as so much of the star talent is locked into place with the Blueshirts, Goodrow on the move makes some sense.