NHL Trade Grade: New York Rangers send Marc Staal to Red Wings
In a salary cap-cutting move, the New York Rangers have traded a 2021 second-round pick and Marc Staal to the Detroit Red Wings for future considerations.
This offseason is going to be nuts. There have already been several trades. The latest one is a bit of a surprise. Defenseman Marc Staal, along with a 2021 second-round pick, is being traded from the New York Rangers to the Detroit Red Wings for “future considerations”.
Staal was a potential buyout candidate for the Rangers. They basically just gave the Red Wings a second-round pick to take on his contract.
This trade has some interesting repercussions, so let’s look at this trade from both sides.
DETROIT RED WINGS
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Getting a second-round pick for taking on a bad contract with one year left seemspretty fair to me. Staal has one year left on his contract with a $5.7 million cap hit. He’s making $4.2 million this season, though the Rangers have likely already paid his $1 million signing bonus.
Don’t be surprised to see more teams do moves like this. Specifically, the Ottawa Senators are over $20 million below the salary cap floor. Also, keep an eye on the New Jersey Devils and perhaps the Los Angeles Kings.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Staal never plays a single game for the Red Wings. Why would Staal waive his no-movement clause to go to Detroit? My best guess is the Rangers told Staal the Red Wings would buy out his contract. Perhaps that’s the “future considerations” in this deal.
Grade: B+. Ideally, the Red Wings should have tried to get a 2020 second round pick. But the Rangers didn’t have one thanks to the Adam Fox trade from last offseason. Still, I like what the Red Wings did. It’s about time they start acting like the wealthy team they are.
NEW YORK RANGERS
This trade is far more interesting for the New York Rangers. While they no longer have a second round pick in either of the next two NHL drafts, that’s a small price to pay to get promising young defenseman Adam Fox and be done with Staal’s contract. Staal has had some great moments with the Rangers, but he’s no longer the effective shutdown defenseman he used to be.
With Staal’s contract off the books, the Rangers now have a shade over $20 million of cap space ($20,001,867 to be precise) with 14 players signed. Alexis Lafreniere, who they are expected to pick with the first overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft, will make it 15 players. But if Henrik Lundqvist gets bought out, it will send it back to 14 players.
Trading Staal gives the Rangers a bit of flexibility heading into a crazy, chaotic offseason. They might be able to afford to bring back players like Alexandar Georgiev (assuming Henrik Lundqvist is getting traded or bought out), Ryan Strome, Brendan Lemieux, and Tony DeAngelo.
Personally, I think this trade means the Rangers are targeting some free agents. Given their lack of depth on the left side (they only have Brendan Smith and Ryan Lindgren there), Brenden Dillon and Torey Krug would both make sense. They might also pursue someone in a trade. There certainly won’t be a shortage of teams needing to clear cap space and the Rangers might be able get a good player who can help them win now.
Next. 2020 NHL Mock Draft. dark
GRADE: A-. On one hand, it doesn’t matter if you clear cap space and a roster spot if you don’t use both efficiently. But on the other hand, the Rangers offseason just got way more fun. Should be exciting to see what they do.