New York Rangers Must Make More Trades to Fix Their Roster: Who Stays, Who Goes?
The New York Rangers appear poised to make more trades to fix their roster ahead of the March 7th deadline.
After trading away their captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks and announcing a record-breaking contract extension to their goaltender Igor Shesterkin, the Rangers are still struggling to find their rhythm on the ice.
It culminated on Monday night in a 2-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Blueshirts were even booed off the ice by their fans.
At this point, only a few players should be identified as safe among the roster, but the others could all end up on the trade block in the coming weeks.
Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox, and Alexis Lafrenière appear to be the only truly untouchable players in New York.
Many veterans who carried the team in the past years, such as Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and even Artemi Panarin, could be traded.
Panarin and Zibanejad both have no-trade clauses on their contract, but as we saw in the Jacob Trouba trade, that won't stop the Rangers management.
As for Kreider, his contractual situation makes him an asset for New York, but reports confirmed a trade seems unlikely to go down this season.
General Manager Chris Drury will also need to make tough decisions on Kaapo Kakko and K'Andre Miller, who have been underwhelming this season and will both be restricted free agents at the end of the season.
Trading them away to a developing team could generate an interesting return for New York, and allow them to develop into the stars they were poised to become.
Also, it'll be interesting to see what the Rangers do about the unrestricted free agents Reilly Smith, Jimmy Vesey, and Ryan Lindgren in the coming months.
These three players appear to be the most likely to leave the team before the deadline.
As of now, with $7 million in available cap space, the Rangers have all it takes to make a splash on the market. By moving a few of their assets, they could have even more cap space to maneuver on the market.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 11 | 101 ANSWERS New York Rangers Must Make More Trades to Fix Their Roster: Who Stays, Who Goes? Do you think the New York Rangers will make a blockbuster trade soon? | ||
| Yes | 85 | 84.2 % |
| No | 16 | 15.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
