3 dynamic prospects the Rangers cannot trade at the 2024 deadline
The New York Rangers will rightfully buy at the trade deadline, but there are a few prospects they need to strongly consider keeping in their system.
The New York Rangers rank in the middle of the NHL in terms of age and experience, and that’s rather amazing when you think about how dominant they have been this season, sitting just two points out of leading the NHL standings.
That said, the Rangers will buy at some point around the March 8th deadline, and depending on what moves they make, there is a chance they could add a couple of rental pieces, given their fair amount of deadline cap space.
The keyword is rental, and remember, New York has a few young players who will be restricted free agents following the season and even more the year after. This shows that, despite playing remarkable hockey over the past three years, there is a core brewing while many of their older players are signed through either 2025, 2026, or 2027.
You couldn’t ask for a better situation, but it also means the Rangers could just dominate the latter part of the 2020s and even into the 2030s if they sign their upcoming RFAs to reasonable extensions and keep developing their best prospects.
The Rangers should buy, but not at the expense of a few prospects
Because of the way things have been set up in New York, there are quite a few prospects who have yet to play in NHL games the Rangers should hang onto. Each of these “untouchable” prospects should find themselves in a blue shirt by 2027, and once fully developed, they will continue the winning ways this team has found itself in.
Which prospects would be the best ones in the system to keep around and should stay out of the trade discussion in early March? Here are three names the Rangers, under no circumstances, should trade while building for the present and working toward dominating the league in the future.
Gabe Perreault is a shoo-in to become an A-plus prospect if he isn’t already there
While Gabe Perreault still has a long way to go to build up his small frame that won’t be NHL-ready anytime soon, it shouldn’t entice the Rangers to use their first-round pick from 2023 as a trade piece. Perreault is just 18, so he deserves at least three seasons to put on muscle and continue to develop his game - which, as mentioned in the first section of this article, falls into that 2025 to 2027 window.
And when you look at what Perreault has already done as a freshman at Boston College with 50 points in 30 contests, just imagine what kind of production he will be putting up three years down the road whether he stays in school or signs with New York and ends up in Hartford.
Sure, Perreault has played for some good teams for a while, but great players still need to make jaw-dropping plays, and the 18-year-old has been doing that. His skating has drawn question marks, but again, he’s 18, and the Rangers don’t need to rush who will be a great player once he’s fully developed.
The size and skating will come with repetition and offseason training, and they are both variables you will see get better with each passing year. Once he’s ready to take over for someone like Artemi Panarin or Chris Kreider, he will pick up where they left off.
Dylan Garand is coming into his own in Year 2 with the Hartford Wolf Pack
Following a stellar career in the WHL and a remarkable performance at the 2022 World Juniors, Dylan Garand saw 32 games with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack and notched just 13 wins, an 0.894 save percentage, and a 3.01 GAA, which aren’t ideal numbers. However, he turned things around in the playoffs, recording a GAA of 1.76, two shutouts, and a 0.935 save percentage.
While the turnaround hasn’t parlayed into a sensational second season in Hartford, Garand’s 0.908 save percentage, 2.74 GAA, and 13 wins in 25 contests scream improvement, and the 21-year-old will keep getting better with time.
His overall lack of size may concern some fans. But he’s also built along the same lines as current star goaltender Igor Shesterkin, and the former Vezina winner has yielded sensational results for the Blueshirts.
If his reflexes and ability to quickly track pucks continue to improve, then Garand will, without question, become a full-time player in the NHL. And at 21, he can still stand to spend another two seasons, if needed, in Hartford to develop and become the eventual 1B to Shesterkin.
A Garand-Shesterkin combo would be an ideal situation for what should be an elite New York Rangers team toward the latter half of the decade. The 1A/1B approach is something we have already seen yield positive results in New York this year with Shesterkin teaming up with Jonathan Quick. Get a stopgap into New York if Quick leaves, and once Garand is ready to take over, the Rangers won’t miss a beat.
Drew Fortescue is another Boston College product who must stick around…for now
A teammate of Perreault’s at Boston College, Drew Fortescue’s limited game is something you cannot fool yourself over, as the Rangers third-round pick this past season is the kind of player who could see a two-way game emerge as he realizes what damage he can do in the offensive zone.
He’s the type of blueliner whose play could look dramatically different in three years from what we have seen so far, and the Rangers will reap those rewards should they keep him around and he shows such improvement.
Even if Fortescue isn’t ready to take the NHL ice by 2027 (and he probably won’t be, barring a huge jump in development), let him continue to grow his game in Hartford, play him as a floater for a season if need be, then go from there.
And if he ends up as nothing more than someone you put onto the third pairing, then send him elsewhere. But currently, there may be too much untapped potential to move a player like Fortescue at this point. He’s one of those low-risk, high-potential players you let fully develop before you even think of moving him elsewhere.
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(Statistics provided by Elite Prospects)