Should the Rangers Trade Marc Staal?
The New York Rangers have an interesting decision to make in the near future: should they trade veteran defenseman Marc Staal? Staal is in the final year of a contract that carries a salary cap hit of $3,975,000 and has spent his entire eight-year career with the Rangers, the third longest tenured blueshirt after goalie Henrik Lundqvist and defenseman Dan Girardi.
After a Stanley Cup appearance last season, the Rangers fancy themselves a legitimate championship contender, so the notion of trading Staal may sound outlandish to some. He logs heavy minutes for the Rangers, currently playing over 22 minutes a night. He’s been a solid top-four defenseman his entire career, generally providing stability in his own end, even if he’ll never be a consistent offensive presence. While he can sometimes struggle against quicker forwards, more often than not he provides the Rangers with a solid effort. All are legitimate reasons for the Rangers not to trade him, but…
He still remains unsigned past this season still. There were various reports before the season began that he and the Rangers were discussing a contract extension, although nothing has come to fruition yet. No one can begrudge him for trying to maximize his value and grab as much money as possible considering his concussion history and the fact that at 27-years old, his next contract will carry him through his prime playing years. Plus he recently watched Girardi sign a six-year, $33 million extension last season to stay with the Rangers, a contract that has assuredly set the floor for what Marc Staal will be seeking.
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While the easy thing to suggest is to offer him a similar contract that Girardi received or slightly above that, it would be an unwise decision by the Rangers. According to capgeek.com, the Rangers have nearly $46 million of cap space committed to only 12 players for 2015/16. With recent reports suggesting that the salary cap ceiling may rise to $73 million, it leaves the Rangers aproximately $27 million to sign between eight to ten players next season to fill out a roster. You don’t need to be a math wizard to figure out that the Rangers will be in cap trouble next season with those figures and will need to get creative with contracts or shed salary in order to competently round out the team.
Which brings us back to Marc Staal. Given his injury history and the Rangers’ cap issues, how can they re-sign him? The Rangers best three defensemen are currently captain Ryan McDonagh (although still showing rust from a shoulder injury), the aforementioned Girardi, and the one-eared Kevin Klein (oh you didn’t see…check here if you are okay with grotesque looking images). All three are signed long-term at reasonable money, especially McDonagh who carries only a $4,700,00 cap hit, an absolute steal for a defenseman of his caliber. With Dan Boyle in the fold next season, John Moore a restricted free agent, and a plethora of youngsters/journeyman waiting in the wings, the Rangers can afford to not re-sign Marc Staal.
So if they aren’t going to re-sign him, would it be wiser to ride the season out with him, take their chances in the playoffs, and maybe flip his rights in June for a late-round pick or just let him walk? Well, no. He is a solid defenseman, and general managers tend to go nutty for them come the trade deadline. Ranger general manager Glen Sather has a legitimate asset on his hand and should use it to bolster his squad similar to what he’s done in the past with impending free agents. Just last season Sather turned an expiring Ryan Callahan (and two first-round picks) into Martin St. Louis at the deadline, and everyone knows how instrumental St. Louis was in the playoffs. But even before the deadline Sather flipped Michael Del Zotto to Nashville for Kevin Klein. Both were carrying similar cap hits, but Klein was signed through 2018 while Del Zotto was approaching free agency. Since his arrival all Klein has done is develop into a top-four defenseman while Del Zotto was non-tendered by the Predators and now patrols the blue line for the Flyers (LOL).
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Say what you want about Sather’s Ranger tenure when it comes to free agency (Wade Redden, Scott Gomez, Bobby Holik…okay, I’m stopping now…okay, just a few more- Chris Drury, Markus Naslund, Darius Kasparaitis), the man has generally done well with trades. The acquisitions of Klein and St. Louis last year are further proof that he should flip Marc Staal for immediate help, perhaps to help acquire a top-two pivot or replenish depth on the bottom six forwards (seriously, it’s ugly) and take on players signed long term with less money due to them or players that he believes can help a playoff run and would have no issue allowing to walk away after the season ends.
Would a team like the Anaheim Ducks be all over Staal if made available? They’re currently first in the Pacific Division, but middle of the pack in goals allowed so far. They recently traded for and lost Eric Brewer to injury. Wouldn’t they feel a lot more comfortable about their playoff chances if they had another solid veteran on defense in front of their kid duo of Frederik Andersen and John Gibson in net? It makes sense for Anaheim who could send a package of either Kyle Palmieri or Jakob Silfverberg plus a first round draft pick to the Rangers for Marc Staal. The Ducks get a quality defenseman (who also have a ton of cap space for next season to re-sign him if they want) while the Rangers get a forward they can use on their bottom six and a first round draft pick to begin replenishing their organizational depth after recent “going for it” trades the past few seasons. Everyone wins.
Trading Staal also wouldn’t put a crimp in the Rangers’ playoff aspirations. Everyone who follows hockey knows they will live and die with Henrik Lundqvist come playoff time. Lundqvist has been subpar this year (32nd out of 43 among qualified goalies in save percentage) and it’s no surprise that the Rangers’ record has been okay so far, going 12-10-4 through 26 games. If Lundqvist is in a funk all season, not only won’t the Rangers contend for a championship, they may not even qualify for the playoffs. I don’t expect his mediocre play to carry throughout the season, and once he starts playing well, the Rangers should be in good shape. And come April, the Rangers’ championship aspirations will fall on his shoulders, with or without Marc Staal in the lineup.
No one said it’d be easy to deal Staal, but it’s the right move for the team to trade him and improve their chances to win now and in the future.