Rangers’ Measured NHL Trade Deadline is Nothing to Panic About

The New York Rangers entered the final days approaching Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline with a clear need for a first-line winger.

Among possible available players? Jake Guentzel, Jordan Eberle, and Tyler Toffoli. Failing those options, Frank Vatrano, Pavel Buchnevich, Jason Zucker, or Reilly Smith might be available.

The Rangers ended up with none of them, instead settling for Jack Roslovic, a second-to-third-line tweener who edges a lot closer to the third line. Roslovic has averaged 45 points per 82 games over his last five NHL seasons and has just six goals this season. That’s a good depth player to have, but the Rangers weren’t seeking someone to slot on the third line. They were after a difference-maker.

That isn’t the big addition that would reaffirm the Rangers’ place as a Cup contender who means business. Fan reaction has not swayed towards optimism.

Though the list of theoretical targets was healthy, several differing issues complicated the process. Eberle chose to re-sign in Seattle, while the Devils were never going to trade Toffoli to their hated rival. The Coyotes took a minuscule return to avoid retaining salary on Zucker’s $5.3 million cap hit, which the Rangers would have needed to be halved. The Blues were more than happy to keep Buchnevich.

Sometimes the market just doesn’t sway in your direction.

One could argue that the Rangers should have pushed all their chips in to beat the Carolina Hurricanes’ offer for Jake Guentzel. That would have possibly involved moving a first-round pick and one of Kaapo Kakko, Gabe Perreault, or Brennan Othmann. Maybe more.

There was also the possibility of bringing back Frank Vatrano. That, too, would have required the departure of major assets. The Ducks were not allowed to retain salary on Vatrano in a trade and much of his production during a career year has come on the power play. The Rangers needed an even-strength needle-mover.

Rangers fans have been primed for the expectation of big additions at this time of year. That has been in their DNA across many eras. Two seasons ago, they dropped first- and second-round picks along with prospect Morgan Barron to rent Andrew Copp. Last year, they traded two major packages of draft picks for Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane.

The reality is that a team can only do that so many times. The Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins, also big spenders at the deadline in previous seasons, settled for more mundane additions this time around. Teams do not have infinite resources and every season in which you pool together trade chips means a future moment in which that will not be feasible.

This is not to completely let the Rangers’ front office off the hook. Barclay Goodrow’s contract ($3.64 million through 2027) is practically unmovable and has limited the team’s financial flexibility. The team made a mistake trading Buchnevich three years ago and arguably made more mistakes paying heavy costs for temporary patch jobs at previous deadlines. Copp, Kane, and Tarasenko were gone almost as soon as they arrived, leaving the Rangers with the same problem to start the next season.

Maybe that’s the point. The Rangers were staring down a third-straight season of overpaying for temporary fixes. The elimination of those assets makes finding a permanent fix the following summer more difficult, leading to the same cycle the next season.

The Rangers indeed have serious Stanley Cup ambitions. Their window to win is now. But the sun is not setting on their core. Artemi Panarin (32), Chris Kreider (32), Mika Zibanejad (30), and Vincent Trocheck (30) won’t be top players forever, but should have at least a few really good years left in their legs and all four are under contract for at least the next three seasons. Whether the Rangers flame out in the first round or bulldoze their way to a Stanley Cup championship, the ambition will be just the same next season. Likely the season after that as well.

Nor are the Rangers like the Penguins, who are facing a long, bleak rebuild once their older stars fade. Adam Fox (26), Igor Shesterkin (28), Alexis Lafreniére (22), and K’Andre Miller (24) should be part of the core for a really good team four or five years from now. So too might some of Kaapo Kakko (23), Filip Chytil (24), Will Cuylle (22), and Braden Schneider (22). Top prospect Perreault is almost a sure bet to be an impact NHLer in a few years and Brennan Othmann could be as well.

Rangers fans have internalized that a team’s chances of winning are correlated to how aggressive they are at the deadline. Yet the Rangers have decades of history proving otherwise. This was not the Rangers giving up on their season. Remember that Vatrano, the one who many believe got away this year, was previously acquired with a fourth-round pick two years prior. He played a big role for a team that went on a deep run. The expensive Tarasenko and Kane’s investments, meanwhile, led to splashy headlines and a humiliating first-round exit.

This team was good enough to be a top team this far into the season. That’s despite some notable injuries and slumping star players. Alex Wennberg, Chad Ruhwedel and Roslovic help make the Rangers a complete team that is absolutely capable of winning the Stanley Cup.

Drury and the Rangers had the discipline to ensure the team would retain enough capital to ensure that can remain the case well beyond this season.