3 players the New York Rangers need to trade after elimination

After being swept by the Carolina Hurricanes, the New York Rangers need to make a few changes. Here are some players who could be traded.

It’s hard to consider the New York Rangers season to be anything short of a success. They made it to the postseason for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Even though the Carolina Hurricanes swept them in the play-in round, the Rangers showed a lot of growth this season. However, this offseason should lead to several changes for the young team.

The Hurricanes are clearly a better team than the Rangers. Getting swept by them shows how far the blue shirts have to go before they can call themselves Stanley Cup contenders. Improvements need to be made, as the rebuild is officially over. No team paying Artemi Panarin over $10 million a year can call themselves a “rebuilding team”.

A stagnant salary cap is going to force the Rangers to make some difficult decisions. Here are three players who the Rangers should consider trading to create some more cap space and improve their roster.

1. Ryan Strome

On paper, Ryan Strome had the best season of his NHL career. He set a career-high with 59 points and 41 assists. Strome also finished third on the team in 5v5 points with 33, just behind Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. He even managed to drive play on both sides of the ice.

However, he’s an RFA, so he’s due for a fairly significant raise. And at 27 years old, Strome has probably already had his best year. Also, Strome was virtually invisible during the postseason, though you could say that about pretty much every Rangers forward.

If the Rangers can keep him at a reasonable price, they should. But trading him now would help them acquire some more assets, which would let them pursue an upgrade at second-line center. Options there could include Anthony Cirelli, Max Domi, and others.