Today the San Jose Sharks acquired Kiefer Sherwood from the Vancouver Canucks, and with one of the top ranked trade pieces off the board, it is time for President and General Manager Chris Drury to try and drum up interest for the New York Rangers' available trade assets.
Sherwood was highly touted because of the season he was having for the Canucks, and because he carried such a low cap hit as a player who is set to become a free agent this offseason. The Sharks paid a relatively low cost to add him, and it will be interest to see what impact, if any, this deal will have on the price of players the Rangers may try and trade.
What happens next for the Rangers?
The value of a player like Artemi Panarin is unlikely to be impact negatively, as he holds a full no movement clause which essentially allows him to pick where he wants to go, if in fact he is willing to join a team for the remainder of the season. Sherwood is a 6'0" and 194 pound right winger that has appeared in 309 games and has a line of 60-61-121. This season he's scored 17 goals and 23 points in 44 games played. His appeal to other teams is that he's cheap, he has scored, and has played a physical game.
If the Rangers are looking to try and trade a play that is similar in total composition to Sherwood, they could try and sell teams on Taylor Raddysh, and there's another card that could be played, but we will get to that in just a bit.
Raddysh hasn't been all that impressive this season (7-4-11 in 46 games) but has 351 games of NHL experience in which he's posted a line of 50-61-111. He's not nearly as physical as Sherwood, but he's had some success in a tertiary role which suggests he could be a decent contributor on a contender. Raddysh had 27 points in 80 games for the Capitals last season, and two years before that he scored 20 goals and had 37 assists in 78 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. He is signed under $2 million a year for next season, and could essentially provide 60 percent of what Sherwood will for the rest of the season.
If the Rangers wanted to be bold and trade a player who they feel has more long-term upside than Sherwood, they could also test the waters on Will Cuylle's value. Cuylle is 23 and has appeared in 216 games for the Rangers in which he's scored 43 goals and added 47 assists for 90 points. This year he's posted a line of 10-14-24 in 49 games after finishing last season with 20 goals, 25 assists, and 45 points in 82 games.
The Rangers have given Cuylle more opportunities this season to produce, but he's not been able to take full advantage. This is not to say that Cuylle's future is doomed because of struggles this season, but at a time in which the Rangers are trying to accumulate assets for their next contention window, Cuylle may be more valuable as a trade piece as opposed to a roster player.
Cuylle is 6'3" and 212 pounds, and has 175 hits so far this season after finishing with 301 and 249 in his previous two seasons. In many ways he represents a better version of Sherwood, with the exception being he hasn't scored as many goals this season. With Cuylle under contract next year as an RFA with a few years to go until he's an unrestricted free agent, he's a very valuable commodity to the right team. It is something that Chris Drury should at the very least consider, but by no means should he give away a cost controlled youngster that has shown glimpses of breaking out.