The New York Rangers could be poised to take a swing at a big fish this season. The Blueshirts are still very much in the thick of the playoff race and don’t seem anywhere near ready to punt on the season.
The team seems to be getting back on track, but injuries have taken their toll. One such injury has been to top blueliner Adam Fox. Since losing Fox, the rumor mill has focused on the Rangers making a move to offset the absence of their star defenseman.
That situation could prompt the Rangers to take a massive swing on the most talked-about blueliner out there: Quinn Hughes.
Insider David Pagnotta of the Fourth Period ran with this bit of news on December 8:
“With all the attention on the New Jersey Devils and Quinn Hughes lately – and yes, the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers have been lumped in there, too – another team to look out for is the New York Rangers. That would allocate a lot of dollars to their backend, but it wouldn’t shock me to see the Blueshirts taking a swing.”
Yes, the Devils seem like the no-brainer destination for Hughes. The talk has almost exclusively been about the Vancouver Canucks captain wanting to play with his brothers. But then again, wouldn’t the Rangers be an enticing destination?
Wouldn’t shining on Broadway be the ultimate for Hughes? While the Rangers are at it, they might as well get Luke and Jack Hughes to round out the trio in New York. But all kidding aside, Quinn Hughes would do well to consider a move to the Rangers. There are few teams that could catapult him to superstardom, like the Blueshirts could.
Making trade happen for Quinn Hughes would be complicated for Rangers
The biggest obstacle the New York Rangers would face in making a trade for Quinn Hughes would be the cap. Hughes has two more years on his current contract at $7.85 million. That’s well above New York’s current cap space of about $3.8 million.
That situation means the Rangers will be looking to shed some salary, at least for this season, to fit Hughes’ contract under the cap. Of course, there’s always the possibility of retention on the part of the Canucks. But then again, such a deal would drive up the price considerably.
Still, if the Rangers have a real opportunity to make the deal happen, GM Chris Drury would be remiss not to make it happen. It’s worth pointing out that getting Hughes would represent moving out a big enough contract to Vancouver. Otherwise, the Rangers may need to make multiple moves to make the math work.
One of the prevailing rumors is that the Canucks want to get a center in return. That might place the focus on someone like Noah Laba. But then again, his contract would hardly offset Hughes’ cap hit.
It’s tough to envisage who the Rangers might be willing to part with in such a deal. But the capologists working for the Blueshirts will need to figure out the math. But there is one thing to be said: When there’s a will, there’s a way. That’s what the situation could boil down to in New York.