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.
2. Tony DeAngelo
Much like Strome, Tony DeAngelo is coming off a career season. He had by far the best season of his young NHL career, posting career highs of 15 goals, 38 assists, and 53 points in 68 games. His previous career-highs were five goals, 26 assists, and 30 points. However, just like Strome, DeAngelo is due a pretty substantial raise. He took a team-friendly deal before and that’s probably not happening again.
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Also, DeAngelo likely doesn’t fit on the Rangers blueline. Right now, he’s their second-best option on the right side if you solely look at time on ice. Jacob Trouba isn’t going anywhere. Adam Fox is quickly improving and you could easily argue he’s already better than DeAngelo.
There’s also the issue of DeAngelo’s defense. He was exposed against the Carolina Hurricanes, as he was arguably their worst defenseman, which is really saying something because every Rangers defenseman except for Ryan Lindgren had a bad series. DeAngelo is a liability in his own zone, which isn’t going to cut it.
It would be very good asset management if the Rangers traded DeAngelo in a package for a young second-line center. That would also free up some cap space so the Rangers could pursue a left-handed option, as their left side is a bit weak right now.
3. Either Henrik Lundqvist Or Alexandar Georgiev
The New York Rangers currently have three NHL caliber goalies. That’s a good thing. But right now, they can’t afford to keep all three. Igor Shesterkin is the future and he’s not going anywhere. That leaves Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev. Let’s look at why the New York Rangers should trade each one.
Lundqvist
Buying out Lundqvist would provide some short-term gain, but ultimately, it would hurt them during the 2021-22 season. Plus owners absolutely hate buying players out, so that’s not happening. Lundqvist has a $8.5 million cap hit for next season. Clearing that would be huge.
The only problem is, nobody’s taking Lundqvist’s full cap hit off the books. Now, the Rangers could probably negotiate something with Henrik and get him to agree to waive his full no-movement clause. This would let them trade him to a team with 50% retained salary, which would clear $4.25 million.
However, the best option would be a mutual termination of his contract. That’s the only way the Rangers are getting his entire $8.5 million cap hit off the books unless Lundqvist gets injured.
Georgiev
From an asset management standpoint, the better move would be to trade Georgiev. His value is likely as high as it’s going to get with the Rangers. Shesterkin is the number one goalie moving forward. That leaves Georgiev as a potentially expensive backup, as he’s an RFA. The Rangers got a nice haul for Cam Talbot and Antti Raanta. Don’t be surprised if Georgiev is next.