Would you make any of these deals if you were in the GM seat for the Rangers?
You know what’s fun this time of year? Making up hypothetical trades. And our friends at CapFriendly have this wonderful tool — the Armchair GM — where you can build or rebuild an entire roster if you’d like.
And, like many message boards and blog comments sections, some of the trades that are out there are hilarious.
But others make you think.
We wandered over to the Armchair GM section to look through the trade offers fans have made involving the New York Rangers. And a few caught our eye.
Trade #1
From BSpadaro83
So here’s the thing: we’re going to see Kravtsov’s name a lot in these trade hypotheticals. He wants out and the organization has been working to try to find him a new home. He’s a talented young player, which makes him an intriguing piece for another team to consider.
Joe Pavelski has a $7 million cap hit for this season – the final year of his deal. But, thus far, he’s been worth it; the 37-year-old center has 19 goals and 29 assists in 43 games.
Dallas is currently in fifth in the Central Division and has a bigger issue to deal with: John Klingberg is headed to free agency and they haven’t been able to agree on a new deal. The Stars are currently using more than $4.5 million in LTIR space over the cap, so getting a big piece like Pavelski off their books would be ideal. But that also limits the Stars’ leverage in a deal.
Because of that, we’re not sure the Rangers would have to include a second-round pick to make this work, especially if the Stars slide further out of the playoff picture.
Should the Rangers do this deal? Yes, all day.
Would the Stars do this deal? We’re not sure, but it wouldn’t hurt to offer.
Trade #2
From Fotiu4U
This is a pretty straight forward deal. The Rangers make a calculated risk in moving the younger Chytil and a good, but not necessarily untouchable, defenseman for a 28-year-old center who’s cost controlled for one more year.
Miller is averaging a full point-per-game and skating more than 21 minutes per night for the Canucks. He’s a terrific player who, if on the market with the opportunity to get Vancouver to retain half of his salary (as proposed here), would have a long list of potential suitors. Chytil has one more year on his deal and Lundkvist has two more seasons of control before either is an RFA, which factors into consideration when they’re 22 and 21, respectively.
Should the Rangers do this deal? Abso-freaking-lutely.
Would the Canucks do this deal? They would at least be intrigued with the cost control of the pieces coming back. We’re not sure a second-round pick would be enough; it might need to be a future first because of the retained salary and one more year of Miller under control.
Trade #3
From the1tab
We might know who proposed this deal, but it’s one that would interest both sides we think. Kubalik, 26, is in the final year of his contract with a $3.7 million cap hit. He’s shown the ability to be a 20-30 goal scorer in the NHL over the past few years and could be a nice piece on the Rangers’ second power play unit.
If Chicago’s looking to retool/rebuild, taking back Kravtsov in the deal would make sense. McKegg goes to make room on the NHL roster for Kubalik. Chicago would help the Rangers get back into the third round of the coming draft with the swap of picks.
Should the Rangers do this deal? Yeah. Kubalik might be a player the Rangers look to keep beyond one season.
Would the Blackhawks do this deal? The new GM – whether it’s current interim GM Kyle Davidson or the next person – might not like the pick swaps, but Chicago has three in the third round right now. They need players like Kravtsov, so this deal makes sense.
Trade #4
From edonutz
This deal has two parts, both of which are fascinating to consider. We’re going to start considering the second trade with the Sharks because there are fewer moving pieces.
Hertl is a 28-year-old top-six center in the final year of a contract with a very modest $5.625 million cap hit. Considering San Jose is actually in the mix for a potential playoff berth, it’s hard to imagine they trade their leading scorer; Hertl has 22 goals.
Even as a pure rental, it’s hard to imagine the Sharks moving him for nothing better than a prospects and a second-round pick. Maybe flip that pick to a first in 2023 and the Sharks are more intrigued. Maybe we include Libor Hájek as well? If the other trade proposed here goes through, the Rangers have far too many bodies on the blue line…
Should the Rangers do this deal? Oh my gosh, yes.
Would the Sharks do this deal? We’re not sure as is, but if they slide in the coming weeks it’s possible.
Which brings us to the other deal proposed here. Chytil was the 21st overall pick in the 2017 draft. Lundkvist was the 28th overall pick in the 2018 draft. And Othmann was the Rangers’ first-round pick (No. 16 overall) in this past draft. So if the Coyotes are indeed looking to bring back multiple first-round caliber assets as well as pick(s), this proposal checks those boxes in a deal for Chychrun.
Here’s the thing about a deal for Chychrun, however. He’s got three more years on his deal at an incredible team-friendly $4.6 million. And, at 23, he’s just getting into the prime of his career. So we have to wonder if a) this is enough value (strong maybe), and b) if the Rangers wouldn’t prefer to include a second defenseman in the place of Othmann (Zac Jones?) because the blue line for the Rangers is, again, already stocked.
Bringing in Chychrun with three more years on his contract means there are a lot of recent draft picks with nowhere to fit on the NHL roster.
Should the Rangers do this deal? That’s a lot of young assets to give up, but we’re on board. This is a yes.
Would the Coyotes do this deal? As proposed, it’s a maybe from us. But upping the value with another defenseman might make it too good for Arizona to pass up.
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