When it comes to trade deadlines, there are two types of teams: sellers and buyers. Sellers are teams that know their season is over and are looking to see what they can get for their assets. Buyers are teams that believe they have a shot at winning the Stanley Cup and are looking for players who can help them in their quest.
Suffice to say, the New York Rangers fall into the latter type. For the third straight season, President and General Manger Chris Drury has used the trade deadline to bolster his team's chances in the postseason. In 2022, Drury acquired Frank Vatrano, Justin Braun, Tyler Motte and Andrew Copp. All four players were instrumental in the Blueshirts advancing to the Eastern Conference finals where, unfortunately, they were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning, who were looking for their third consecutive Cup.
In 2023. Drury went out and landed Vladimir Tarasenko, Niko Mikkola, Motte (again) and Patrick Kane. But unlike the previous season, the imports Drury brought in were, save for maybe Motte and Mikkola, not complimentary pieces; they were stars in their own right who, far from helping an already good team become better, wound up upsetting the chemistry in the locker room. The power play, which had been a staple of the team for the last two seasons, looked disorganized, as head coach Gerard Gallant struggled to find just the right combination. The whole thing unravelled against the New Jersey Devils in the opening round of the playoffs.
By no means were the Rangers the only organization to fall victim to the naive belief that you can never have enough stars. The Boston Bruins apparently weren't satisfied with running away with the Presidents' Trophy, so they brought in the proverbial kitchen sink at the deadline. And just like the Rangers, they were dispatched early at the hands of a Florida Panthers team that needed a loss by the Pittsburgh Penguins just to qualify for the playoffs. How's that for a kick in the teeth?
I'll say this for Drury: he's not one to make the same mistake twice. This time around, he refused to be seduced by all the shiny objects out there. The biggest and shiniest object was Jake Guentzel, a winger who for the last eight seasons has played alongside one of the best centers of this generation: Sidney Crosby. With just over a day to go before the 3 P.M. March 8 deadline, the Penguins let it be known that they were shopping the all-star forward.
Supposedly, four teams were vying for his services; the Vancouver Canucks, the Vegas Golden Knights, the Carolina Hurricanes and the Rangers. As Thursday afternoon turned into Thursday evening, only two teams remained in the hunt: the Hurricanes and the Rangers. The Penguins were looking for a substantial return for Guentzel, one that Drury was not prepared to pay, so Guentzel went to Carolina.
Predictably, Rangers Twitter went apoplectic. How could Drury screw this up? Guentzel was practically ours. Never mind that the price Pittsburgh was looking to extract - a number one draft pick, Kaapo Kakko and two top-tier prospects - would've gutted the organization. Never mind that he's a rental that Drury might not be able to re-sign over the summer. All that mattered was the big splash.
Thankfully, Drury held his ground. Don't get me wrong: Guentzel would've looked nice in a Rangers uniform. His resume speaks for itself. But he's a left winger on a team that badly needed a right winger. There's no guarantee he'd be able to make the switch. Plus, he's played with Crosby his entire career. While Mika Zibanejad is hardly chopped liver, he's no Crosby. The whole thing had the makings of Kane 2.0.
Undaunted, Drury turned his sights elsewhere. He had already acquired Alex Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday. Wennberg is a solid two-way player who will solidify a third line that has badly needed a center ever since Filip Chytil went down with a season-ending third concussion in November. He then acquired defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from the Penguins to add depth to the D core. All that was left was to get his right winger.
As the clock ticked closer and closer to 3, it was beginning to look like Drury was going to strike out. The Anaheim Ducks were looking for a first rounder for Vatrano, who is having a career year. The St. Louis Blues were looking for two number ones and a prospect for Pavel Buchnevich. Suffice to say, Drury balked at both "proposals."
Finally, with about 10 minutes to go, Drury found his man. Jack Roslovic of the Columbus Blue Jackets is listed as a center, but he was playing right wing on the Jackets top line with Boone Jenner and Johnny Gaudreau, and playing it quite well. Over his last 12 games, he has 13 points: 4 goals and 9 assists. His speed is a commodity this team can certainly use, and while Peter Laviolette will decide where he best fits in, all indications are that he will start on the Rangers top line.
Three holes to fill, three holes filled, and Drury didn't have to part with Kakko, or any of his number one picks or top prospects. Wennberg cost him a second-rounder and a fourth-rounder obtained from the Dallas Stars in the Nils Lundkvist deal; Ruhwedel a 2027 fourth rounder; and Roslovic a '26 conditional fourth that becomes a third if the Rangers make it to the conference finals. And as if that wasn't enough, Drury got both Wennberg and Roslovic with 50 percent salary retention. The man is methodical if nothing else.
No one can predict what impact these players will have on their new team. But given that the Rangers have been the lead dog in the Metropolitan Division pretty much the entire season, the expectation is that they can only help solidify their position. The second place Hurricanes also improved themselves and are only two points behind depending on what the Blueshirts do tonight against the Blues. The likelihood is that one of these two teams will meet either the Bruins or the Panthers in the ECF for the right to go to the Cup finals.
Did Drury nail this deadline? We'll know soon enough. But at least he didn't blow it like he did last year. And that's progress.
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