The next two days will be about the Rangers’ sense of crisis and the definition of going all-in at the trade deadline Friday at 3 p.m.
I’m going to jump into this pool with a safety net on. I won’t trade Gabe Perreault, I won’t trade Brennan Osman, and I won’t trade Will Quill. Not a chance. Kaapo Kakko may not be traded either.
That means we’re not going to go all out on this deadline because of the usual suspects whose names have been thrown around for weeks and weeks and don’t include anyone who makes a clear difference. I think.
Remember when the Canucks hopped on the market ahead of the All-Star Game to acquire a midfield rental, thinking they could land a difference-maker in Elias Lindholm? Vancouver is currently the best player on the market. They’re enamored with their new shiny toy, Pittsburgh right wing Jake Guentzel, and are considering moving Lindholm to free up cap space.
This is something from the good old days of Trader Phil and Mad Mike, right?
With the Blueshirts acquiring Alex Wennberg from Seattle to center their third line on Wednesday, general manager Chris Drury’s focus is on finding a right winger who can play with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, and on defense. Focused on strengthening. The Blueshirts entered Thursday with just over $2.9 million in cap space, which would increase by about $800,000 if either Adam Edstrom or Matt Lempe were assigned to the AHL Wolfpack.
Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek sent Adam Henrique to Edmonton in a deal that brought back a first-round pick. The Ducks want more in return for Frank Vatrano. Frank Vatrano has one more year left on his contract with a cap total of $3.65 million, and he intends to put any questions about the third relationship between Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad to rest once and for all. of the 2024-25 playoffs.
So far, Drury has resisted meeting a price tag for the winger, who is quite happy to remain in Southern California with a contract extension scheduled for this summer. I don’t think this is a player the Rangers would go “all in” on. I don’t think anyone expects Vatrano to unlock Zibanejad.
The Panthers took Vlad Tarasenko instead of giving up a first-round pick on a winger. In pursuit of Wennberg, the Avalanche acquired center Casey Mittelstadt from the Sabers. Colorado also sent a first-round pick to the Flyers in free agent defenseman Sean Walker.
If there’s a difference-making rental forward on the market, it’s Guentzel. He is a player who will make Rangers even more dangerous, there is no doubt about that. He will change that dynamic. But you’d have to think the Penguins would require a first-round pitcher and at least Kakko. There are probably more.
I haven’t done it. I’m not going to sacrifice braces for a rental. I have no intention of being a co-conspirator in rebuilding Pittsburgh’s arid organizational pipeline. I’m all for the 29-year-old on-loan winger who is as attractive as No. 59, who scored 23 goals in 37 games for the Penguins in back-to-back Cup years in 2017 and 2018. Not that there is. He scored 34 goals in 58 playoff games. If it’s a first and it’s a prospect other than Perreault, Osman or Cuill, I’d be in it. But Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas probably doesn’t think that’s close enough.
If you define all-in as dealing with a first-round pitcher and Kakko or Osman — Perreault and Caillou are just removed from any discussion — then the Rangers believe now is the time. In that case, I’d probably look at Ottawa differently. Defenseman Jacob Chychulun still has a season left on his contract with a total cap hit of $4.6 million.
This doesn’t address the nagging blemishes on the right side, and moving Kakko without bringing back the winger would only make the problem worse. However, this leaves the Rangers with their most formidable six-layer defense since 2014, with Cykran becoming the first pair with Adam Fox and moving Ryan Lindgren to the third pair with Braden Schneider. Become.
Finally this.
If all-in is in the eye of the beholder, what would an all-in look like to reacquire Pavel Buchnevich from St. Louis? About a week ago, I thought selling Buchnevich low and buying high was not the best strategy. I tweeted that it doesn’t seem like it. That hasn’t changed.
But the Rangers know Buchnevich is working with Zibanejad and Kreider. They won’t have to think about the line again until after next season’s playoffs, when Buchnevich’s contract, which carries a $5.8 million annual cap hit, expires.
No, within two years of trading No. 89 and a second-rounder for Sammy Brace, trading a first-rounder and Kakko for an entire season and getting two playoff games out of Buchnevich. you can’t. Sorry, that’s not possible.
But if there’s another definition of all-in that applies here, Drury should be all-in. If acquiring Buchnevich is a change-maker for Zibanejad, how much of a change-maker will Captain Happy be?
