The New York Rangers' Letter 2.0 retool was officially kicked off with a trade of Carson Soucy to the New York Islanders, and NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman believes that Braden Schneider is the next name to watch as President and General Manager Chris Drury looks to improve his club.
Elliotte Friedman shares New York Rangers update on NHL Network
Friedman recently appeared on NHL Network, and he was asked what the next move could be for the Rangers, and his answer was one that was different than the studio expected. Friedman said, "I know everybody's really excited about Panarin. I kind of wonder if it might end up being something like Braden Schneider, to be honest. You know, I think that the Rangers just had their scouting meeting and kind of the feeling around the league coming out of that is that Chris Drury has reiterated, 'If you have an idea, call me.' And some of his players have protection, and they have control over whether or not they go, but there's other players who don't, and he's willing to listen to all of them."
The players that have protection include players like Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, and moving them will require some negotiation. But Friedman later added, "But one of the guys I'm wondering about is Schneider, whose contract is up after this year, and I definitely think there's a lot on Trocheck, too."
He then ended the segment by sharing. "But one name I did hear a little bit about today, knowing I was coming on here and calling around, aside from the obvious ones, was Schneider. I think that for a defenseman who's a bit heavier, there's always interest in that kind of a player, and I think there is some in him, and the Rangers may have a decision to make."
Why the Rangers should be comfortable moving Schneider
The Rangers have had Schneider in the fold for 339 games across five seasons, and this year he's been given an opportunity to play on the top pair with Adam Fox injured. Schneider is averaging a career high 20:13 per game, and has a line of 2-8-10 in 53 games. He's never been known for his offense, and the Rangers have envisioned him being a physical shutdown defender. He hasn't been able to do that this season, and the Rangers may be finally ready to move on if there's a team out there that is willing to give something of value for him.
Schneider's status with organization felt shaky entering season
The Rangers had primarily used Schneider on the third pair during his career, and with Fox and Will Borgen on the roster it felt like he was in a position where he'd be unable to breakout. Mike Sullivan had an interesting quote about him and said, "If we were to rank our defenseman top to bottom, we believe that Schneids is amongst the top four. But that doesn’t mean he has to play in the top four." In other words, the Rangers felt he was one of their better defenders, but they didn't play him up in the lineup on his off side, even though that was something talked about in training camp.
As previously mentioned, Fox's injury has afforded him the chance to play on the top pair, an opportunity that Borgen hasn't received, and he's failed miserably. Schneider is up to 912 minutes of 5v5 hockey, and he's posted a 39.07 GF%, a 45.97 CF%, and a 45.84 xGF%. Last year he finished with 1,255 minutes, and had a 50.37 GF%, a 45.82 CF%, and a 46.82 xGF% per Evolving-Hockey. It is painfully apparent that he's out of his depth. The only logical reason he could still be in that situation is that the Rangers are trying to sell a team on the fact that he's physical, he blocks shots, and plays big minutes... and they hope that a scouting staff doesn't do a deeper dive on him.
With all of that said, Schneider will be 25 at the start of next season, and the 6'3", 206-pounder for Saskatchewan is far from a finished product. But he will need a new contract this summer, and he is just two years away from being able to hit unrestricted free agency. At this point he's unlikely to fit into the timeline in which the team is going to be competitive again, so moving on from him makes a ton of sense.