As the playoffs continue for four clubs, 28 are sitting at home trying to figure out how to improve for next season. Whether that is re-signing players that a club is about to lose, looking ahead to who may be available in free agency, or trying to make a trade to either clear cap space or improve that way, general managers around the league are starting to put the wheels in motion towards building their teams for next season.
For the New York Rangers, there is not a lot that can be done in the current scenario. It’s no secret that the Blueshirts need cap space and one of the more popular ways for the Rangers to get it among fans is to move forward Barclay Goodrow. Due to the bottom six forward making more than $3 million a year against the cap, logically moving on from the Toronto, Ontario native makes sense to clear up space.
It makes sense to move Goodrow because it isn’t a contract you’re going to have to pay to dump in a lot of situations because he isn’t overpaid. The difficulty would be trying to find a home for the two-time Stanley Cup Champion that he will allow because he does have a 15-team no-trade list. Goodrow still has some say in where he would be dealt away if that were to happen which could hamstring efforts to find him a new home.
This is not to say that Goodrow has to move, if the Rangers could find a way to keep him, that would ideally be best. But 31 points in the form of 11 goals and 20 assists in 82 games is just not enough production for $3,641,667 a year. This does not take away from what a fantastic penalty killer Goodrow is and that he can be an effective part of a roster that wins the Stanley Cup as he showed in Tampa Bay.