The Sixty-four Thousand Dollar Question Drury Must Answer

With the news that Chris Drury has re-signed Vitali Kravtsov ($875k) and Sammy Blais ($1.525m) to one-year contracts, the Rangers now have 17 players on the active roster with $10 million in cap space leftover to field a team next season. Assuming they elect to go with the full compliment of 23 players, that comes out to an average of $1.66 million per remaining player. And, yes, I'm being facetious.

I don't for a minute believe that it is an accident that Drury locked up both Kravtsov and Blais first. The former gives him some flexibility at right wing in the event that another team swoops in with an offer sheet on Kaapo Kakko that the Rangers will not be able to meet; the latter addresses a need this team still has: a physical north-south winger who's good along the boards and between the dots.

But the biggest question mark hanging out there is who will get the coveted number two center slot? Both Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp are UFAs and will no doubt be looking for huge increases off of their last contracts: Strome at $4.5 million and Copp at $3.6 million. Both had career years and both complimented Artemi Panarin very well. Of the two, Copp is the better option, registering 18 points in 16 regular-season games and 14 points in 20 postseason games. He also had a better face-off percentage than Strome - 49 to 43 - and there was a definite chemistry between him and Panarin.

But if reports are accurate that Strome's agent turned down an offer of $5.25 million at the start of the season and Copp's camp is looking to test the free agent waters in July, Drury may have no choice but to look elsewhere to fill the 2C. But where?

Don't look now but it's entirely conceivable that come training camp Filip Chytil is the team's number two center. From a purely financial position, it makes perfect sense. Assuming he can entice Kakko to accept a two-year bridge deal at $2.3 million, Drury would have himself one helluva cheap second line. And if what we saw in the playoffs wasn't a mirage but the real deal, the Rangers would have one of the youngest and most dynamic trio of forwards in the NHL. Their emergence as a cohesive threat would allow Gerard Gallant to assemble a super line of Mika Zibanejad at center, Panarin at left wing and Chris Kreider at right.

Think of what Drury could do with the extra $5 million in cap money he would otherwise have to spend on either Copp or Strome. He could shore up that all-important third line that often makes or breaks teams. As I wrote in my last piece, both Sidney Crosby and Steven Stamkos had their way with the Rangers in these playoffs. And if Sebastian Aho had been a better finisher, the Tampa Bay Lightning would've been playing the Carolina Hurricanes instead of the Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals. I'm sure that deficiency hasn't gone unnoticed by Drury, who since he ascended to the dual position of President and GM has been methodical with every move he's made with the notable exception of the Patrik Nemeth signing. That one defies all logic.

Let's be honest here: apart from his friendship with Panarin, does Strome really get this team any closer to a Stanley Cup? He's an above-average skater with an average shot and not much net-front presence. Were it not for the value he brings to the power play, he'd be no better than a third-line center. Drury should consider himself fortunate that he rejected his offer of $5.25 million. As for Copp, he's never recorded more than 39 points in a single season. Like Strome, his owes most of the success he had here to playing alongside Panarin. Rangers fans maybe disappointed with the all-star winger's output, particularly against the Lightning, but Panarin is an elite player who brings out the most in his line mates. If Gallant elects not to create a super line and instead keeps Panarin on the second line, I wouldn't be shocked at all if Chytil ends up having a career year. That's how valuable number 10 is.

Now I know what you're thinking and you can bet the ranch Drury is thinking the same thing. Is Chytil durable enough to play an entire season? That's the sixty-four thousand dollar question Drury must answer. Let's face it: the guy's as brittle as a candy bar. It doesn't much matter how well the kid plays if he can't stay on the ice. The hit he took in game four of the conference finals didn't look all that serious at the time, yet it was enough to sideline him the rest of the game. In his four seasons in the NHL, the most games he's ever played is 75, and that was in his rookie year. This year he missed 15 games; the year before he missed 14. Missing five or six games is acceptable; missing 15 is a problem.

Kakko hasn't exactly been a model of durability either, but that's where Kravtsov comes in. In a pinch, he could easily slot over and take his place. Drury's ability to build a roster deep enough to overcome the odd injury or two will determine whether this team takes the next step in 2023 or is simply a flash in the pan.

As for the third line, as I wrote in my last piece, Drury was definitely interested in signing shutdown center Phillip Danault last summer, but the L.A. Kings outbid him. He's still looking for that center and Nick Paul could be just what the doctor ordered. The burly 219 pounder is having quite an impressive postseason with the Lightning and would make an ideal fit between Barclay Goodrow and Kravtsov. Drury might be able to ink him for $2.5 million x 3 years.

That would leave enough money to get a backup goalie like Braden Holtby ($1.5m), a left-handed defenseman to replace Nemeth ($900k), who I assume will be dealt soon, and a fourth-line center, I'm thinking a Brian Boyle reunion ($800k). They still have Dryden Hunt in reserve if someone gets hurt. And ya never know, Will Cuylle might even get a shot. Bottom line, hopefully we've seen the last of Greg McKegg and Julien Gauthier. 

All this is speculation, of course. For all we know, Drury is cooking up a major trade for a number two center as we speak. But until something concrete happens, it's always fun to speculate.