Despite a very disappointing “post season” against the Hurricanes, the young New York Rangers had a promising year as we began to scratch the surface of their new identity. Artemi Panarin is a super star, Mika is the number one center we haven’t had in years, Trouba & Fox lead our back end with the Sheshterkin, the heir to the throne in between the pipes.
So where do we go from here? Honestly Henrik Lundqvist should bite the bullet and stick around as our backup goalie. He's 38 years old, he's not going to be a guy who can play 50+ games over the course of a long season. The idea of him pulling a Ray Bourque is not only cringeworthy but a long shot at best. Alexander Georgiev is going to be a legitimate starting goalie in the NHL, and Igor Shesterkin has proven to be ours. Keep Hank to start give or take 35 games next season & mentor the young star netminder. Unfortunately leaving Georgiev the odd man out & solid trade bait.
What to do with pending FA’s?
Tony DeAngelo and Ryan Strome are two of our biggest question marks both having impressive seasons entering RFA. As for DeAngelo, while a 3 game “post season” certainly should not be enough to make a decision from, his disappointing series against Carolina on top of his off the ice uncertainties might be what we need to realize it’s moving on time. Between Trouba, Fox, and Nils Lundkvist reaching NHL ready status there’s simply no room for Tony on the right side and none of the previously mentioned are at their strongest playing the left.
Ryan Strome is a tricky choice. He had a good year and does not need Panarin attached at his hip to be productive. However if the price is too high it might be best to move on from him as well, especially if we’re putting together a trade package for a big name player. Unless Ryan wants to stick around & sign an extension almost identical to his latest contract, the price may not be right and moving on may be best.
One of the toughest things Rangers fans had to deal with in the past is the reality that sometimes its best to trade a player away. Zuccarello being the toughest pill to swallow in that field. However, we learned with the Kreider extension, some players are worth the investment and Jesper Fast falls in that category. Especially if DeAngelo and Strome are out the door, cap space spent on Fast is cap well spent. Players like him simply do not grow on trees and he is an intrigal part of this organization. Unless he’s asking for Kreider type money, he deserves an extension.
The Rest of the Pack
Other than those three bigger names, players in need of new deals include Brendan Lemieux, Greg McKegg, Phil Di Giuseppe, Michael Haley, Vinni Lettieri, Boo Nieves, Steven Fogarty and other AHL players who are basically a coin toss. It's safe to assume Haley will hit free agency. Lemieux definitely earned his keep and should sign a couple year extension. PDG played well with us down the stretch & McKegg is a great role player, both good depth options worth keeping around if the price is right. Same can be said for Nieves and Vinni Letteiri who is however rumored to be heading to the Swiss league. Steven Fogarty is another tough one, the organization has a lot of good to say about him and you have to love an underdog story, why not keep him around as a 4th line depth guy.
On the Block
There has been lots of rumors and speculation tying Johnny Gaudreau to New York which would be a massive trade to say the least. Rangers should definitely be open to a large trade package involving some variation of Georgiev/Strome/DeAngelo/Picks/Prospect in exchange for a top 4 LHD or a star forward on the block such as Gaudreau. The only difficulty this presumes is all three of those names are RFA’s in need of new deals. Would there be a team willing to make a move of that size just to have to negotiate three fairly large contracts? Brett Howden’s name should be in the conversation as well. David Quinn seems to love the kids game but aside from his solid 2 way game, he struggles to find the net and doesn’t have much else to offer offensively which is something the Rangers need. There’s still the unanswered question in Lias Andersson who will almost certainly be moved this offseason but the return value is very up in the air.
The Bright Future
Zibanejad, Panarin, Kreider, Kakko, Chytil should all be locked in as solidified members of the Rangers forward core going forward. Buchnevich should have earned his keep as well but with his deal ending after next season it is fair to assume the Rangers will listen to calls on him.
On the back end, Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox are locked in on the right side of the first and second defensive pairings respectively. Ryan Lindgren had a remarkable season and should have earned a shot on the top pair with Trouba going into next season. As for Brendan Smith and Marc Staal it’s tough to say. There’s really only room for one of them in the line up but with both names carrying a large cap hit on only a year left, it may not be wise to buy one out. Especially given the Rangers extensive buyout history. If any team has interest in one or the other the trigger should be pulled. Brendan Smith has more to offer however Marc Staal has been here second longest behind Lundqvist, therefore it’s hard to see him being moved.
All in all, it was a season to remember for Rangers fans in this crazy and unexpected year. The organization is definitely taking steps in the right direction and this off season will be the most important one yet. It almost felt as if the rebuild was over this year however we may just be one strong offseason away from being back at contention status. It will be interesting to see what tough decisions Jeff Gorton and John Davidson make, the future is definitely bright on Broadway.
By: Chris Feldman
Comments