Three destinations for a Barclay Goodrow trade

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.

Toronto Maple Leafs

One solution is to send Goodrow home to Ontario, and to the Toronto Maple Leafs. As the Maple Leafs will be looking to rebuild their bottom six with the salary cap coming to collect some of their depth pieces. With a new general manager, the sense is that the Leafs may decide to go a different route in terms of their roster building. With this organization seemingly loving guys from the local area, Goodrow could slot in nicely.

Goodrow was a major piece of the Tampa Bay Lightnings’ repeat as Stanley Cup Champions and after the Leafs got out of the first round for the first time in almost 20 years, Goodrow could be a piece to help guide a core that has struggled to compete in round two towards the Stanley Cup. They have room for his contract and they know that they can get the player to waive his modified no-trade if he won’t allow them to acquire him.

It works for the Rangers because it would move Goodrow out of the Metropolitan. They’d have to play the Leafs three times a year and could meet them in the playoffs early if one team was to falter and find themself in the wild-card spots as opposed to the divisional places these two hockey clubs have gotten so accustomed to. It’s unlikely though, and it would clear cap space for New York.

As for the return, I’d imagine it would just be a mid to late-round selection. Toronto like Torontonians, New York needs the cap space. It seems like a good fit in general. Toronto is not constrained in terms of its cap either and could do this without the Rangers having to pay or retain. This might be a little wishful thinking, but there is a case here for both teams to make it work.

Tampa Bay Lightning

This feels like a little bit of a cop-out, but this is where Goodrow found the most success in his career, so perhaps there is a justification to move him back to the sunshine state and back to the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was a piece of the puzzle that broke through with that Tampa Bay core and he proved his value in the postseason in the way he plays. Again, last year with the Rangers he did it again.

Tampa Bay has a lot to do to fix their bottom six. Barclay Goodrow is a player they liked enough once to pay a 1st round pick for and it was the move that shocked everyone because he was just not worth it at the time in many people’s eyes. As that season continued, Goodrow showed why Tampa Bay has been among the best in the NHL for years and why other people are idiotic.

Tampa Bay and New York have a long, extensive history of trade with each other. Whether that is Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller, or Martin St Louis for the Ryan Callahan deal, players have been shipped between these two teams a lot down the years. Sending Goodrow back to where he came from would not only send a familiar face to Julien BriseBois and the Bolts on the Bay and see if he can get back to the past.

When the Lightning repeated as Stanley Cup Champions, they were reliant on Goodrow and that third line alongside Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman to dominate the play and create threats from outside their top six. They did that well enough to drive the Lightning deep and going back to the glory days is not a hard sell to a fanbase that could be seeing their team’s window come to an end. It makes sense.