Drury Needs To Lock Up Lafreniere ASAP!

While we "patiently" wait for Kaapo Kakko to come back from wherever he is and sign his extension, believed to be a two-year bridge deal worth between $2 and $2.5 million, another ticking time bomb is one year away from possibly going off.

Let me put this as plainly as I can. Chris Drury cannot afford to let Alexis Lafreniere become an RFA next summer. If that happens, if Lafreniere hits the free agent market, there is absolutely no doubt that a team will sign him to an offer sheet. You can bet the ranch on it; in fact, you can bet every ranch in the state of Texas and Montana on it.

How do I know this? Because Jesperi Kotkaniemi was the third overall pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2018 and after his entry-level contract was over, the Carolina Hurricanes signed him to a one-year, $6.1 million offer sheet. Lafreniere was the first overall pick of the Rangers in 2020, and if you do a side-by-side comparison of both players after only their second season, Lafreniere has more goals and points than Kotkaniemi. Furthermore, Lafreniere appears poised to have a break out season, especially if he plays on the Zibanejad line. There are those in the organization who believe the winger has the potential of becoming one of the team's best forwards. No one in Montreal thought that about Kotkaniemi during his tenure there.

Now I know what you're thinking. The offer sheet to Kotkaniemi was just payback by the Hurricanes for Montreal signing Sebastian Aho to an $8.45 million offer sheet back in 2019; an offer sheet that they were forced to match, mind you. And we all know that payback's a bitch, right? No way a rival GM would ever do that to the Rangers. Oh, really? Perhaps we should run that by Jeff Gorton and John Davidson. Both men were once employed by James Dolan before he unceremoniously fired them last year. Gorton now runs the Montreal Canadiens while Davidson runs the Columbus Blue Jackets. How do you spell "fuck you" in hockey? O-F-F-E-R S-H-E-E-T, that's how.

Wow, that's pretty cynical, wouldn't you say? To think that Gorton and Davidson would be that petty. Are you fucking kidding me? If I were them, I'd hire a messenger to deliver the offer sheet to Dolan personally with the inscription, "Blow me, asshole!" written at the bottom. Then I'd call up Drury and say, "Sorry, man, it's not about you."

So what kind of deal should Drury dangle in front of Lafreniere? The same kind of deal Kotkaniemi got from the Hurricanes after his one-year offer sheet deal expired: $4.8 million x eight years. That's a shit-load of money, Peter. Well, yes and no. Up front, it's a lot, but down the road, if Lafreniere turns out to be the player we all believe he can be, it'll be the steal of the decade. Seriously, how much do you think wingers who average 25 to 30 goals will earn in a couple of years? A helluva lot more than $4.8 million, that's for damn sure. Think about it: Chris Kreider makes $6.5 million a year and he just had the first 30 plus goal season of his career. Trust me, in a couple of years, Drury will look like a genius for inking this contract.

How would locking up Lafreniere to a $4.8 million, eight-year contract starting in 2023-24 affect Drury's ability to re-sign his other RFAs like K'Andre Miller and Filip Chytil? Admittedly, it'll be tough. Drury may have to choose between the two. Personally, I'd keep Miller. The upside on him is far greater and, let's face it, you can always find an affordable 3C out there for between $2.5 and $3 million that could easily replace Chytil. Defensemen with Miller's skillset don't grow on trees.

The reality is that this roster will look radically different after the 2023-24 season anyway. Jacob Trouba's NMC converts to a NTC, which means the Rangers wouldn't need his permission to trade him. Also Ryan Lindgren's contract is up, and while he has been one of the hardest working defensemen on the team, it is unlikely that Drury would re-sign him. That's $11 million more in the kitty to sign other, younger players. Drury's ultimate goal should be that never again would he, or any future GM, be forced to send out a letter to the fans informing them that the Rangers are being torn down and rebuilt. You get one mulligan for that as an organization.

One!

James Dolan Strikes Again

Maybe in hindsight it was too good to be true. For the last twenty years, Rangers fans always had the satisfaction of knowing that no matter how bad things got, at least ownership stayed the hell out of it. James Dolan's fixation with his beloved Knicks gave the Blueshirts the cover they needed to operate under the radar, free from any interference. 

Well not anymore. Dolan, who single-handedly turned one of the premier franchises in the NBA into a laughingstock, apparently found out that he also owns the hockey team currently residing in the same building. So Wednesday afternoon, the man who thinks he knows something about professional sports, decided to fire team President John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton.

I'll get around to the ramifications of this house cleaning and what it means for the organization going forward in just a bit, but first, I gotta talk about the Wilson situation. 

I've been a fan of hockey since I was a teenager. I've made no secret of the fact that this sport, when it's played well, is one of the most exciting sports to watch. But that's the caveat: "when it's played well." Because all too often, this sport that I love has been dragged into the mud.

47 years ago this Wednesday, Dave Schultz pummeled Dale Rolfe in game seven of the 1974 semifinals at the Spectrum. The Broadstreet Bullies, as the Flyers were known back then, were notorious for beating up their opponents. Just think the movie "Slapshots" only worse, because unlike the fictional team that was a bunch of vagabonds, the real-life team managed to win consecutive Stanley Cups in the mid-'70s. Indeed, they would've won three in a row had it not been for the '76 Canadiens who were too quick for the plodding Flyers. 

The NHL would have you believe that they've made great strides since those dark days. Goons like Dave Schultz have been banished and the league no longer tolerates such behavior. Really? Tell that to Artemi Panarin, the 170 pound Rangers winger who was picked up like a rag doll by 220 pound Capitals winger Tom Wilson and slammed to the ice Monday night. It was a miracle that Panarin did not hit the ice head first or he might very well have cracked his skull open.

The circus that occurred at the Garden two nights later, which saw over a hundred minutes in penalties doled out between the Rangers and the Capitals, is a direct result of the league not dealing with Wilson the way it should have. Wilson, at the very least, should've been suspended for ten games. Instead, all he got was a $5,000 fine. What would Wilson have gotten if Panarin had been hospitalized, two tickets to a Broadway show?

If this is the NHL that Gary Bettman believes has made great strides, no wonder it isn't taken seriously by sports networks like ESPN. As far as I can remember, hockey has been mired in last place; a distant fourth behind football, basketball and baseball. It is garbage like this that is partly responsible. 

Name another professional sports league that allows its stars to be brutalized the way the NHL does. Go ahead, I'll wait. Do you know what would happen if an opposing player grabbed LeBron James by the neck and threw him to the court or picked up Tom Brady and drove him head first into the turf? I can tell you exactly what would happen. That player would be pumping gas at an Exxon station. His career in that league, or any other league for that matter, would be over. In the NHL, not only doesn't that happen, deep down the league actually encourages it. As Sean Gentille sadly and correctly pointed out in The Athletic, "This is a feature, not a bug."

And that "feature" gives league officials like George Parros, Director of Player Safety - an oxymoron if ever there was one - the excuse they need to look the other way. Seriously, putting Parros in charge of player safety is like putting an elephant in charge of peanut distribution. The man scored 18 goals and racked up 1092 penalty minutes in 474 games. To put that in perspective, Nick Fotiu had 60 goals and 1,362 minutes in penalties over 646 games. Think about that. 

A goon in charge of player safety and a commissioner giving a wink and a nod to behavior unbecoming a professional sports league. What's it gonna take for the NHL to wake up, a tragedy? We came dangerously close to that happening Monday night. Artemi Panarin, thankfully, didn't suffer a serious injury. The next player might not be so fortunate.

Now onto Dolan.

This is the most bat-shit crazy thing this organization has done since Phil Esposito fired Michel Bergeron with two games left in the 1988-89 season. In fact, it's even crazier. At least that year, the Rangers were going to the playoffs, and Esposito felt that Bergeron had lost control of the team. This year's team, while still mathematically alive for a playoff spot going into Wednesday, was literally on life support. To put it bluntly, I'd have had a better shot of scoring a hat trick than the Blueshirts had of making the postseason, and I can't even skate. 

Clearly, Dolan did not like what he was seeing and felt he couldn't wait until the end of the season to make a change. And as I pointed out in an earlier piece, there was a lot to be concerned about. This team, for all its talent, does not have the foot soldiers necessary to contend in today's NHL. Leaving aside the Wilson incident, the fact that they get pushed around by bigger teams like the Islanders and Bruins is a red flag that must be addressed. The last three games against the Islanders in which the team got outscored 13-1 was probably the breaking point for Dolan. 

So where do we go from here? First off, the announcement that Chris Drury is taking over in the dual role of President and GM is good news. Drury has been in the organization for the last six years and was hand-picked by Gorton. He knows the personnel and is widely respected around the league. Indeed, the fact that he was interviewed for two GM spots - Pittsburgh and Florida - bodes well for the Rangers. 

The problem here is the owner. Is he going to give Drury the time and space he needs to fix what's wrong? Or is he going to meddle like he did with the Knicks and really fuck things up? Time will tell which it is. If it's the former, then this should work; if it's the latter, expect a repeat of the nightmare we've seen with the Knicks over the last two decades.

Regarding David Quinn, it's 50 / 50 whether he'll be back. Coaches that go three seasons without making the postseason - and apparently last year's play-in round against the Hurricanes didn't count as a playoff appearance - typically don't survive. Don't be surprised if Drury replaces Quinn. The question is with whom? Kris Knoblauch has done an outstanding job with the Hartford Wolf Pack this year and he was behind the bench with Drury for a few games earlier this season when Quinn and his coaching staff were sidelined with Covid. 

If Drury decides to go outside the organization, one possible candidate could be Arizona Coyotes' head coach Rick Tocchet, who is unsigned past this season. While the Coyotes have underperformed, most of that is due to a lack of offensive talent. Defensively, the team has been in the top six two of the last four years, and last season it beat the Predators in the play-in round.

As far as the personnel is concerned, Drury will have to thread a needle between the talent he has and the muscle he needs. It's a delicate balance, but this team cannot take the ice next season without significant changes and they will have to come via trade and/or free agency. Thankfully, Gorton didn't make any senseless trades at the deadline. That means Drury will have a boatload of cap space with which to work with during the offseason. And with several teams at or above the cap, the Rangers should be in a position to sign one or more players.

One of those players is Blake Coleman of the Tampa Bay Lightning. An unrestricted free agent, the 29 year old earned $1.8 million this year and is a solid two-way forward who can play center or either wing. He scored 13 goals in a shortened season, and at 200 pounds, he'd be a perfect fit on either the second or third lines. Drury could offer him a four-year deal at $4.5 million per and the Lightning would be hard-pressed to match it. 

I would also re-sign Brendan Smith to a one-year contract. The 32 year-old defenseman has proven his worth down the stretch, and until Braden Schneider is ready to take his spot on the third defensive pairing, Smith is more than capable. Plus I like the way he took on Wilson Wednesday night. It takes balls to go up against a 220 pound opponent who 48 hours earlier almost put one of your teammates in the hospital. Good for him.

Speaking of defensemen, the St. Louis Blues are up against the cap and Vince Dunn, who's making $1.875 million, is a restricted free agent after this season. Did I forget to mention he also weighs 200 pounds? The Rangers could offer the Blues Zac Jones and next year's number one for him. A four-year deal for $5 million per should get it done.

Center ice is a huge question mark for this team. Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome are both entering their walk years. Do the Rangers keep both, one, or neither? Zibanejad is making $5.3 million and will command a huge increase. Strome at $4.75 isn't going to be cheap either. The smart move is to trade one of them. And what about Flip Chytil? Is he ready to take over as the second-line center? If not, what can the Rangers get for him? And what about Morgan Barron? The kid scored his first goal of the season against the Caps Wednesday night, and at 220 pounds, he could be just what the doctor ordered. Or he could be a bust. It will be up to Drury to figure out who stays and who leaves.

And lastly, some final words on Davidson and Gorton. While the rebuild was overall a success, it was not without its share of mistakes. The decision to re-sign Tony DeAngelo during the offseason, as I wrote back in February, was "indefensible." It showed an utter lack of judgement on the part of both men. DeAngelo's tweets and his track record with past teams were problematic even before the defenseman took a swing at his own goaltender. Fortunately, the organization will be able to get rid of most of the cap hit when they buy him out this summer, as DeAngelo is under 26.

Then there's the draft. Leaving aside Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, who were no-brainers, some of Gorton's draft picks left something to be desired, as well. A few, like Lias Andersson, have been outright busts, and some just lack the physical size to compete with other NHLers. Take Vitali Kravtsov, for instance. Yes, the Russian winger is talented, but the same year the Rangers drafted him, the Islanders nabbed Oliver Wahlstrom out of Maine. Kravtsov is 189 pounds; Wahlstrom is 205. Seeing a pattern? Drury has to stop this love affair with European players. As gifted as many of them are, the Rangers simply have too many of them. A steady diet of North American players over the next couple of years should help cleanse the system.

The season is over come Saturday. The rebuild will now be a retool. Rangers' fans will have to wait and see if Chris Drury is the man who can turn this young, promising team into a bonafide contender. 

Bi-Polar Rangers Aren't All That Hard To Figure Out

We've seen this movie all too often throughout the season. It's a familiar pattern. The Rangers go on a hot streak and torch a few, shall we say, lower echelon teams, which gives fans hope that this rebuild, which started three years ago, is now on the verge of producing tangible fruit. Then they get shut down by a top-caliber playoff team and just like that, the air is let out of the balloon. As Robin Williams used to say, "Reality, what a concept."

After Sunday's drubbing of the Buffalo Sabres, the Blueshirts have the sixth best goals for and against differential in the NHL at plus 33. Their 164 goals are third best in the league; only the Capitals and Penguins have scored more. They are also the only team to have five players with 40 points or more. Their penalty killing is sixth best and they lead the league in short-handed goals. All very impressive stats.

And yet even with all that, this team is still four points behind the Boston Bruins for the last playoff spot in the East Division, with the Bruins having two games at hand. And their 56 points ranks as only 14th best out of 31 teams in the league. That is most certainly NOT very impressive.

So what can we surmise from these two sets of conflicting data? Simply put, the Rangers are two very different teams depending on the opposition. Against opponents that don't cover their own zone very well or prefer to play a wide open brand of hockey, the Rangers do extremely well. Their east/west style of play, so reminiscent of those free-wheeling '80s teams, allows them to generate scoring opportunities that lesser-skilled teams simply cannot compete with. Witness what they did to the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils, two teams that are to defense what Napoleon was to height. Twice, the Rangers routed the Flyers (9-0 and 8-3), and against the Devils, they swept a recent four-game series in which they did not trail for a single second.

But against the Islanders, Capitals, Bruins and Penguins, teams that are considerably more disciplined in their own end and tend to employ a north/south brand of hockey, the Rangers have had a tough time generating offense. Stars like Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin, deprived of their ability to create off the rush, are reduced to virtual non-factors. For example, so far this season, Zibanejad has scored three hat tricks. The first two came against the Flyers in the above-mentioned routs; the third came against the Sabres this past Sunday. Take away those 9 goals and Zibanejad has a grand total of just 10 goals in 46 games. That comes out to about 18 goals over the course of a full season. And keep in mind, eight of those 46 games were against the Devils, a team they've beaten six times.

Conclusion? This is very talented team with serious flaws that must be addressed in the offseason if it is ever going to become a playoff team, much less a contender. Yes, there are a lot of rookie and second-year players on the roster, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Adam Fox and K'Andre Miller are not the problem here. Nor is Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere. Fox is having a Norris-trophy type season, Miller is fast becoming a dependable defenseman, and Kakko and Lafreniere are improving with each game.

No, it is the core of this team that is the main problem. In short, the stars just aren't pulling their weight. In addition to the issues Zibanejad and Panarin have against tight-checking teams, Chris Kreider is a 210 pound player who plays more like a 170 pounder, which has rightfully earned him a demotion to the third line. Filip Chytil, now in his third season, has yet to blossom into the top-six forward the Rangers were hoping he'd be. And while Ryan Strome has done a good job centering Panarin, he too has a habit of disappearing in big games. Plus next season is his walk year.

With so many red flags, you'd think Jeff Gorton and John Davidson would've gotten the memo by now. Yet every indication is that they don't think there's anything all that wrong, at least not with the forwards anyway. The defense, well that's another matter. 

Larry Brooks of The New York Post is reporting that during the offseason the Rangers made an offer to 43 year-old Zdeno Chara. According to Brooks, it was serious enough that they were "in the hunt until the last minute" before Chara finally decided to sign with the Capitals. Granted, Gorton had no way of knowing that Miller would develop so quickly, but the move reveals both his and the organization's thinking. And that thinking is deeply concerning.

Because this team, even with all its flaws, is still mathematically alive for a playoff spot, and the fear is that coach David Quinn will keep playing the same horses that have consistently come up short in the crunch. Meanwhile, Morgan Barron, a center who had a good year in Hartford and is 220 pounds, still hasn't been called up. Julien Gauthier, a 230 pound winger, hasn't played in weeks because for some strange reason Quinn is still in love with Brett Howden, despite the fact that Howden has a whopping one goal and six assists this season.

There's no other way to put this. Quinn is making a tactical error that may help him in the short run but will come back to bite him in the long run. What he and Gorton should be doing with the remaining games this season is to find out what they have in the cupboard. Barron and Gauthier should be in the lineup and given significant ice time. Vitali Kravtsov should be paired alongside Panarin to see whether he is the real deal. And it is time to find out if Kakko was worth the second overall pick two years ago.

If I were in charge I'd set my lines up this way: 

Forward Line One: Lafreniere, Zibanejad, Kakko

Forward Line Two: Panarin, Chytil, Kravtsov

Forward Line Three: Kreider, Strome, Buchnevich

Forward Line Four: Rooney, Barron, Gauthier

Defense Pairing One: Miller, Trouba

Defense Pairing Two: Jones, Fox

Defense Pairing Three: Lindgren, Smith

By moving Lafreniere, Kakko, Chytil and Kravtsov up to the top six, the Rangers will be able to evaluate who will be the odd-man out during the offseason. And make no mistake about it: not all of these forwards are going to be here next season. One or more may be dangled in a trade to get the help this team needs. It is essential that Gorton and Davidson make an "informed" decision before pulling the trigger. What the organization can't afford to do after going through this rebuild process is to have the player or players they give up come back and haunt them for the next decade. It's been 45 years since Rick Middleton was given away for Ken Hodge and 34 years since Mike Ridley and Kelly Miller were sent packing for Bobby Carpenter. Rangers' fans still haven't forgiven the team for those colossal blunders. Some wounds never heal. The goal should be no more blunders.

On defense, Zac Jones has looked real good so far and has even gotten some time on the second power-play unit. He picked up his first assist against the Sabres, Sunday. Pairing him with Fox makes sense. The more ice time this kid gets the better he'll become. And let's not forget that Braden Schneider - all 200 pounds of him - is waiting in the wings. Imagine a one-two punch of Trouba on one defense pairing and Schneider on the next. Not bad. Trust me, defense is the last thing management should be concerned about. They're loaded.

The bottom line is this: The Rangers are not a playoff team. Despite some flashes of brilliance, the sauce isn't quite cooked enough. What management should be doing is getting all their cards lined up so they know whether they have a full house or a pair of duces.

Rangers Are To Blame for DeAngelo Nightmare

Let's be clear, here. The Tony DeAngelo nightmare did not start after Saturday's overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in which the troubled defenseman took a swing at goaltender Alexandar Georgiev over the latter's admittedly costly mistake. Nor did it start with his tweets, which were problematic to say the least.

Indeed, if we're going to be thorough, you could say it began years ago. He was suspended twice in the OHL for slurs and abuse of officials and once in the NHL for actually going after an official. Head coach David Quinn benched him two games for getting hit with a misconduct in the third period of the opening game of the season. Clearly, he was a loose canon just ready to go off.

To be frank, it wasn't just his support for Trump that was a red flag; it was his propensity for trafficking in racist tropes and picking fights with fans on Twitter that should've sounded alarm bells in the bowels of the Ranger organization. It is inconceivable that team president John Davidson and G.M. Jeff Gorton didn't know what was going on, and both must now bear the brunt of the blame for the disaster that the franchise must now deal with.

The decision to sign DeAngelo to a two-year $9.6 million deal is indefensible. Period. Yes, he was a restricted free agent, meaning had the Rangers not made him an offer he probably would've been awarded a one-year arbitration deal. But the Rangers could have walked away from that deal, making him an unrestricted free agent. Had they done that, it is highly unlikely another team would've signed him given that the Rangers were unable to move him during the offseason.

So now Gorton has the unenviable task of trying to get a team - any team - to take the problem child off his hands. Good luck with that. Even a team with the cap space needed to take on DeAngelo's contract will want nothing to do with a player with that much baggage. That means that this team, which is currently playing musical chairs with players on its own taxi squad just to stay in compliance with the league salary cap, will have to buy out yet another contract after this season is over. Oh goodie.

Fortunately for them, because DeAngelo is under the age of 26, they will only have to eat one third of the remaining $5.3 million he's owed on the backloaded contract, which comes out to $883k annually for two years. But the point is they didn't have to go through this. They have two young, promising defensemen in their system - Nils Lundkvist and K'Andre Miller - who are a year away from making the team. They could've moved Brendan Smith over to the right side until Lundkvist is ready to take the reigns. And they would've saved themselves almost $10 million worth of cap space in the process. Cap space they would now give their eye teeth to have.

I have been patient with Davidson and Gorton, primarily because the core they are assembling has the potential to one day be a Stanley Cup contender. But there have been hiccups along the way. The buyout situation is growing alarming. Including Henrik Lundqvist, who was bought out during the off season, the Rangers currently are carrying almost $13 million in dead cap space. And while that number will go down by about $8 million next season, the DeAngelo buyout, if it happens, will bring it back up.

But here's the greater issue. That Davidson and Gorton looked the other way with someone like DeAngelo sends the wrong message, especially to a player like Miller, who is the first African American to wear a Rangers uniform. And Davidson's explanation in his press conference that this was about "freedom of speech" is absurd on its face, something that in his days as a TV analyst he would've decried.

The New York Rangers may not be the most successful hockey organization in the NHL, but even in the days of Sonny Werblin, it would never have allowed something like this to fester within its ranks. Hopefully, the braintrust has learned its lesson and won't repeat this colossal mistake.

End of an Era

It's official: Henrik Lundqvist has been bought out by the New York Rangers. An era has come to an end. 

15 seasons, 459 regular-season wins (6th all time), 61 postseason wins and one Vezina trophy. Had it not been for his acrobatics in the 2014 playoffs, the Rangers would never have made it out of the first round, let alone all the way to the finals.

An argument can be made that, apart from Mark Messier, Lundqvist is the most valuable player ever to wear the uniform. And given how many good players the Blueshirts have had in their proud history, that's quite a statement.

But as valuable and great as the King has been, it was time to turn the page. It was obvious that no team was going to trade for a 38 year-old goaltender, especially one with a $8.5 million cap hit - $4.25 with a 50/50 split - so the Rangers did what they had to do.

And now this team - officially the youngest in the NHL with the trade of Marc Staal to the Detroit Red Wings - has $23 million of available cap space with which to sign their four restricted free agents and maybe even their one unrestricted free agent, assuming GM Jeff Gorton and Jesper Fast can agree on a contract. In short, the Rangers, with the addition of first-round pick Alexis Lafreniere, will field a considerably deeper team next season than the one that was dispatched in three straight by Carolina.

This is a sad day, a bittersweet day, in New York Rangers history. A legend is gone. But it was a day that was a long time coming. Lundqvist was the oldest player from the team that went to two conference finals and one cup final. It never did drink from the Stanley Cup. Hopefully, Gorton and team president John Davidson will assemble a team that can close the deal and capture the championship that alluded its predecessor. 

 

Major Decisions for Rangers This Offseason

Over the next couple of months, the New York Rangers will have to make a number of major and tough decisions regarding how this team will look once the 2020-21 season gets underway. John Davidson and Jeff Gorton have their work cut out for them.

A number of sports "analysts" have chimed in with their opinions, and with the rare exception or two, you can tell none of them have ever run a professional sports franchise. That notwithstanding, I thought I'd dip my big toe into the pool and see if I drown. Spoiler alert, I don't swim.

The Number One Pick: Under no circumstances should Davidson and company trade this pick, not even for the proverbial king's ransom, which for the record hardly ever resembles a ransom, much less a king's one. I've seen most of the prosed trade packages and not one of them makes sense, not even the one involving the Senators sending the Rangers the number three pick along with Brady Tkaczuk in exchange for the number one. No disrespect to Tkaczuk, who is a solid two-way forward, but at best he's a 25 goal scorer. You don't trade the overall number one pick for a player you can get in the middle of the first round in any given year.

Even if Alexis Lafreniere isn't the second coming of Jaromir Jagr, he's still better than anyone the Blueshirts have at left wing, including, dare I say it, Artemi Panarin. The moment he steps onto the Garden ice, he instantly becomes one of the best forwards on this team, and if he does in fact become the next Jagr, he will be the generational player this franchise hasn't had since the days of Mark Messier. Only a fool would trade that away, and I don't believe either Davidson or Gorton are fools.

Second-Line Center: Do the Rangers re-sign Ryan Strome or do they look elsewhere? I know I've beaten this like a dead horse, but thanks to the Kevin Shattenkirk buyout last year, the Rangers will have just north of $13 million in available cap space to attempt to resign four RFAs and one UFA. That's not a lot of space, given that Strome is arbitration eligible and will likely command a hefty raise from last year's $3.1 million contract.

If the braintrust decides to look elsewhere, the pickins are slim. A trade for the rights to Tampa Bay Lightning center Anthony Cirelli - the current fave of the peanut gallery - will come with a huge price tag. The Lightning will almost certainly demand something close to equal value in return, and that return has to something they can retain given their own cap problems, which are considerably worse than the Rangers. I'm thinking Filip Chytil and Vitali Kravtsov. Assuming the Blueshirts say yes, which they shouldn't, they will likely have to pony up about $6 million per over the next six years. That's roughly 45 percent of the available cap space. And I'm not even sure Cirelli is worth that kind of money given that he's scored a measly 5 points in 13 playoff games and he's currently the number two center on this team with Steven Stamkos out with an injury.

The smart move is to re-sign Strome to a two-year bridge deal for about $5.5 million per until you find out if Chytil is the real deal or not. If Strome doesn't pan out, you can always leave him exposed in next year's expansion draft. Hell, he's already been on three teams in five years, what's one more team in the grand scheme of things?

Henrik Lundqvist: Let's not beat around the bush. With the exception of Messier and Brian Leetch, no one has done more for this franchise over the last 30 years than The King. He deserves a better fate than the one that's currently awaiting him, which is to be a backup for 24 year-old Igor Shesterkin. Gorton has already said the Rangers will not go into camp with three goalies, so assuming they sign Alexandar Georgiev, that means Lundqvist is the odd man out.

The only question remaining is whether Lundqvist retires, which would give the Blueshirts all $8.5 million of his cap hit to play with, or he gets bought out, which would leave $5.5 million on the books next season and $1.5 million on the books for 2021-22. Obviously, the former would be a dream come true, but seriously, if you were Lundqvist would you leave that kind of money on the table knowing that you might be out of hockey next year? I sure as shit wouldn't.

With trade options severely limited by 1. Lundqvist's age (38) and 2. his no trade clause, the consensus is that he will be bought out. And that would mean the Rangers would be carrying a staggering sum of $13 million in dead cap space going into next season; 16 percent of the NHL salary cap. Anyway you slice it, that's insane. This is what happens when you sign players in their 30s to very long contracts with no movement clauses.

Lack of Toughness: Unless you believe in flukes, what you saw in Toronto was a Rangers team that got bounced around by the Hurricanes. We saw this all too many times throughout the season: a team with very creative forwards that wasn't adept enough to win the battles in the trenches. More often than not, the goaltending saved their bacon, but not in the Qualifying round. When push came to shove, the Blueshirts got handed their lunch and dinner with dessert on the side.

Obviously, the team needs a transfusion of toughness in order to succeed in the postseason. Perhaps Gorton can trade Pavel Buchnevich - who's in his walk year anyway - for a scrappy winger who isn't afraid to take a hit or initiate one. Or he can just promote a couple of the meatier forwards already in the system like Morgan Barron and Austin Rueschhoff, both of whom can play either center or wing and weigh 220 pounds each. Combined with Julien Gauthier, another 220 pound winger that was obtained from the Hurricanes last year, and Brendon Lemieux - a must sign - the Blueshirts could finally be the team with a chip on its shoulder instead of the other way around. I firmly believe that when it comes to hits, it is far better to give than to receive.

Left Defense: It's no secret that the left side of this defense after Ryan Lindgren is a major liability. Both Marc Staal and Brendan Smith are over 30 and at least two seasons removed from being legit starting defensemen. Staal, in particular, was about as slow as a freight train stuck on the 7th Avenue Express. The good news is that both players are in the last year of their contracts, which means they will be gone after next season. The bad news is that their contracts - $5.7 and $4.35 million for Staal and Smith respectively - make it virtually impossible for them to be traded, even with the Rangers absorbing half of the load. So what to do?

Well call me a fool, but I believe in improving where you can. With the recent, shall we say, "issues" in Arizona, the Coyotes find themselves with no first round pick in either this or next year's draft. The Rangers could dangle the number one pick they got from the Carolina Hurricanes in the Brady Skjei deal for 22 year-old left-handed defensemen Jakob Chychrun. He would instantly become their best left-handed defenseman and coach David Quinn could pair him with Jacob Trouba to make a formidable tandem. And since he's already signed to a team-friendly $4.6 million for the next five seasons, he would help solidify the one glaring weakness this team had throughout the season.

If Chychrun isn't available, the Rangers should give St. Louis a call and inquire about Vince Dunn, another solid left-handed defenseman who may be too expensive for the Blues to keep. Dunn is an RFA, so Gorton would have to come to terms with him once the two teams agreed on a trade, but somewhere in the neighborhood of $4 to $5 million per over six years should suffice. Either player would instantly slide into the number one pairing and become a staple to this beleaguered defensive corps.

Lindgren and Adam Fox would remain the second defensive pairing, and Quinn could move Smith to the right side on the third pairing, where he's played before. Staal and Libor Hajek would then alternate on the left side. When K'Andre Miller is ready (2021-22) he would take over on the left side, and if there's no one inside the organization that can step in to play the right side, they could always look outside via a trade or signing. Don't forget, most of that dead cap space will be gone after next year.

Obviously, Deangelo would be the casualty in this scenario, but if that's what it takes to shore up your top two defensive lines, then so be it. Besides, Deangelo, apart from his scoring prowess, brings a lot of baggage with him, and he's not exactly Larry Robinson on the blue line, if you know what I mean.

I'm sure there are a few other minor issues Gorton will have to attend to, but these are the biggies, as I see them. If the Rangers solve these problems, they will be able to accelerate their rebuilding process and maybe even challenge for the Cup next season.

Rangers Get the Break of a Lifetime

Well that was quite a turnaround. In less than a week, the New York Rangers went from a franchise that had just been humiliated by the Carolina Hurricanes in three straight to a franchise that just been humiliated by the Carolina Hurricanes in three straight but who won the NHL draft lottery. That's right, the second youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 25.7 years - the Blackhawks are the youngest at 25.6 - will get the honor of selecting Alexis Lafreniere with the number one pick. That's assuming John Davidson and Jeff Gorton don't lapse into the same coma their team was in last week and choose someone else.

Look, there's no way to sugar coat what happened in Toronto. In a word, it was dreadful. The Blueshirts played a total of two solid periods of hockey in the entire series, and in neither did they emerge with a lead. In fact, the Hurricanes pretty much dictated play at both ends of the ice.

I spoke about goaltending as being one of the keys to this series, and that proved to be the case. Unfortunately, it was the tandem of Petr Mrazek and James Reimer (who hadn't started a playoff game in seven years) that stole the show. Henrik Lundqvist, who was a surprise starter in games one and two when Igor Shesterkin was ruled ineligible due to a groin pull, was average at best.

Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Hart Trophy finalist Artemi Panerin scored one goal a piece; the latter coming on a five on three power play advantage. It would be the only power play goal the Rangers would score in the series after going 5 for 15 against Carolina during the regular season. By comparison, the top line of Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen accounted for seven goals. In the end, it wasn't as close as the games' final scores would indicate.

Clearly the rebuild that started two seasons ago still has a ways to go. Davidson and Gorton have a lot of tough questions that need answering and not a whole lot of time to get them. For instance, how much stock do they put into those three games in Toronto? Was the second-half run a tease or the real deal? Does this core, as presently constructed, have what it takes to make a deep run in the playoffs? Which players do they keep and which do they show the door?

If management feels that the Hurricane series was an aberration, they will face a daunting task during the offseason. The Rangers will be carrying about $7.5 million in dead cap space next season, most of it courtesy of the Kevin Shattenkirk buyout last year. Including existing contracts, they will have just over $13 million in available cap space with which to sign RFAs Tony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome, Brendan Lemieux and Alexandar Georgiev, UFAs Jesper Fast and Greg McKegg and rookie Lafreniere. Thankfully, Lafreniere will only cost them $925,000. By the way, that supposes the kid actually plays with the big club next season. For argument's sake, let's just pencil him into the starting lineup, either on the second or third lines.

You can see the dilemma here. DeAngelo and Strome will command the lion's share of the available cap space: DeAngelo at roughly $3 mil and Strome coming in around $5. That leaves about $4 million to divvy up among the rest. Unless Lundqvist retires - a long shot - or the Rangers decide to buy him out - unwise - at least two of the aforementioned free agents will be playing for another team next season.

Frankly, depending on Lundqvist to bail out his bosses when they tossed him aside for a younger model is wishful thinking. That leaves a buyout. But before they take on more dead cap space, they should consider trading Pavel Buchnevich. Freeing up his $3.25 million salary would allow the team to promote minor leaguers like Libor Hajek, K'Andre Miller and Vitali Kravtsov. Buchnevich had a good year, but let's face it, there are players already in the system that could easily take his place. Kaapo Kakko would be an ideal choice. He was one of the few Rangers who distinguished himself against the Hurricanes last week; another was Jacob Trouba.

The Rangers should also consider moving Marc Staal, even if it means eating half of his $5.7 million contract. I suspect there are plenty of teams who'd be willing to take on an experienced defenseman for $2.85 million. Hajek and Miller both deserve a chance to prove what they can do. Having said that, I'd keep Brendan Smith. He can play both the wing and defense on either side and he's more affordable.

Moving Staal and Buchenevich, and allowing Fast to walk, would save approximately $6 million in cap space and allow Davidson and Gorton to keep this core intact. In that event, just imagine what next year's lineup could look like.

Forward Line One: 

Panarin, Strome, Kakko

Forward Line Two: 

Lafreniere, Zibanejad, Kreider

Forward Line Three:

Howden, Chytil, Kravtsov

Forward Line Four:

Lemieux, McKegg, Gauthier 

Defense Pairing One:

Lindgren, Fox

Defense Pairing Two:

Hajek, Trouba

Defense Pairing Three

Miller, DeAngelo

Goaltenders

Shesterkin, Georgiev

Time will tell what moves Davidson and Gorton end up making. But this much is certain: with Lafreniere as their number one pick and a solid core in place, this team just moved one step closer to being a contender and should be a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

Why Shesterkin is the Clear Choice for the Rangers in the Playoffs

By now David Quinn has probably made his decision as to which goaltender he's going to go with against the Carolina Hurricanes in the playoffs, and unless he saw something the rest of us didn't in the exhibition game against the Islanders, I fully expect Igor Shesterkin will start between the pipes Saturday afternoon.

It's the only choice Quinn could make. Yes, Henrik Lundqvist has started every playoff game the Rangers have been in since his arrival in the 2005-06 season. That's quite a streak, but with all due respect to the King, that's not enough to justify starting him in this round.

This team is not the same team it was back when Lundqvist was a perennial Vezina trophy finalist year in and year out. Hell, it's not even the same team it was a year ago when it was in the middle of its rebuilding effort. The fact is this is one of the youngest teams in the NHL, with an average age of just under 26, and that's with a 38 year-old goalie and two defensemen in their early 30s on the roster. After next season, it will be even younger once those contracts are off the books. To take one more stroll down memory lane for old-time sake would do a disservice to all the hard work management has done over the last two seasons.

Look, no one seriously believes this team is good enough to win the Stanley Cup this year. As I wrote in an earlier piece, if they do beat the Hurricanes, they will likely get trounced by whoever they play in the next round. But this will be an important first step for the core of this team that will allow John Davidson and Jeff Gorton to evaluate where they are in the rebuild and to determine what changes will have to be made in order to get them closer to the grail.

Frankly, this is a rather rare moment in Rangers' history. Not since the Emile Francis era has this franchise been in a position to put together a roster that has the capacity of remaining intact for more than a couple of seasons. If you recall, that team's core was together pretty much from 1968-69 thru 1973-74, and had Jean Ratelle not suffered a season-ending injury in '72 playoffs, they might've beaten the Boston Bruins for the Cup.

Since then the franchise has had its moments when it flirted with success ('79) and even caught the bear once ('94), but such moments were rare and always came with a terrible price tag. The '79 team turned out to be a flash in the pan as aging stars like Phil Esposito eventually retired and established veterans like Ulf Nilsson never lived up to expectations. The '94 Cup team was assembled by jettisoning every prospect in the system, which eventually led to a bare cupboard and a dearth of playoff appearances.

Even the most recent "run" - as some have erroneously called it - began and ended with the importing of aging stars like Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan and Marty St. Louis. Jagr played three seasons for the Blueshirts before going back to Europe, Shanahan retired after two seasons and St. Louis did the same after a year plus. The sum total for all that wheeling and dealing? Two trips to the conference finals, one to the Cup finals and zero championships.

Hopefully, this management team will not make the same mistakes as its predecessors and assemble a team that even with a flat cap can be a legitimate Cup contender and endure the test of time. If Gorton can find a way to maneuver around next year's cap hell that he, himself, inadvertently created by buying out Kevin Shattenkirk - another expensive import that should never have been signed - he's in good shape going forward to lock up his stars for the foreseeable future.

And one of those stars is Shesterkin. That's why, regardless of what happens over the next few days, he needs to start every game. Like the football Giants did when they benched Eli Manning for Daniel Jones last year, the Rangers need to make a commitment to their youngsters so that their youngsters can get the experience they need to win a title.

Maybe if Lundqvist had played with Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad in his prime instead of Rick Nash and Derek Stepan, he might've won that Cup final in 2014. It certainly didn't hurt Mike Richter any having Mark Messier and Brian Leetch for teammates on that '94 team. Great goaltenders can only accomplish so much on their own. They need foot soldiers in front of them to carry the load.

I feel bad for Lundqvist, I really do. He deserved a better fate than this. When he retires he'll be the best goaltender of all time not to win a Cup. And that's unfortunate. But unfortunate or not, that's no excuse for the Rangers to throw good money after bad.

It's Shesterkin's time. This is his team. The future belongs to the young. And the future is now.

Rangers Had Themselves A Pretty Good Day

I so seldom have the opportunity to say this about one of the teams I root for, but here goes. The Rangers had themselves a pretty good day yesterday. In fact, it was one of the best days the organization has had in quite some time. And that's saying something, given that last year they chose Kappo Kakko with their first-round pick and signed Artemi Panarin. Larry Brooks of the New York Post put it best: "The Rangers are finally back."

Going into the trade deadline, it was looking more and more like the Rangers were going to trade pending unrestricted free agent Chris Kreider to one of several teams for a first round pick and a top prospect. Supposedly, the Colorado Avalanche and the Boston Bruins were the most likely destinations for Kreider.

Both sides, it seemed, were at an impasse. Kreider, multiple sources said, wanted $7 million a year for six years, the Rangers were willing to go as high as $6 million per. Given that Kreider's market value as a free agent would probably be somewhere in the neighborhood of $7.5 million a year, a trade seemed imminent.

But then both sides compromised and met in the middle. They finally came up with a deal that will pay Kreider $6.5 million per year, but for seven years. The extra year was, no doubt, a concession from the organization to keep Kreider in a Rangers' uniform throughout the rest of his playing career.

One cannot overlook the significance of this deal. Ever since Jeff Gorton informed Rangers' fans in February of 2018 that the organization was going to rebuild, the Blueshirts have been in sell mode. There are now only four players left from the team that went to the Stanley Cup finals back in 2014: Henrik Lundqvist, Marc Staal, Jesper Fast and Kreider. And Fast, it should be noted, played only 11 games that year with no points.

A lot of talented players have been shipped out since then and a lot of promising prospects have taken their place. But prospects don't always pan out the way you think they will. And even for a fan base as loyal as the Rangers, management had to give them something to hope for. So Gorton and team president John Davidson rolled up their sleeves, sharpened their pencils and made it happen.

Kreider was having himself one helluva season going into the trade deadline, which usually translates into landing a bigger haul. Either those offers weren't enticing enough or Gorton and Davidson simply decided that it was more important to keep an integral member of this team in the fold. Regardless, it was the correct thing to do. Maybe the last three years of this contract don't equal the first four; that's the chance you take when you sign a player to a deal like this. There's always an element of risk, on both sides. Kreider undoubtedly left a lot of money on the table; and the Rangers compensated him by agreeing to the extra year. Both sides got what they wanted: Kreider got the security of a long-term deal; the Rangers locked up a valued asset at a reduced price.

But Gorton and Davidson weren't done. Now that they locked up Kreider, they had another problem: how to pay him. It should be no secret that next year the Rangers were going to be carrying a lot of dead-cap space, the vast majority of it courtesy of their decision to buy out Kevin Shattenkirk before the start of this season. The amount of that hit comes to $6.1 million, only $400 thousand less than what Kreider will earn. And with three restricted free agents to contend with during the off season - two of them in line to receive significant pay increases - the Rangers were looking at cap hell if they didn't get some relief, and soon.

So they traded Brady Skjei to the Carolina Hurricanes for a first-round pick. For all intents and purposes, it was a salary dump. Skjei was in the second year of a six year contract worth $5.25 million per. Without him on the books next year, the Rangers will have the resources necessary to retain all their RFAs in the off season, and maybe even add a depth player.

So why would the Rangers give up on a promising defenseman who's only 25, especially when they don't have a lot of depth on the left side? Apart from the monetary relief trading him gave them, the fact is that there are currently two players in the system who are projected to be better than Skjei and could compete for roster spots next year: the first is Libor Hajek, the throw in from the Tampa Bay  Lightning in the Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller trade two seasons ago, who is having an outstanding year with the Hartford Wolfpack; the second is 2018 first-round pick K'Andre Miller, who is currently playing for the University of Wisconsin, but could be playing for the Blueshirts next year. And let's not forget that Marc Staal and Brendon Smith are still under contract for 2020-21 and are hardly chopped liver.

To sum up, yesterday was a pretty good day for the Rangers. They kept an important cog in an engine that is a couple of years away from possibly contending for the Stanley Cup, and they did it while clearing the cap room necessary to keep their core together for the foreseeable future. To the fans who have been patient throughout this whole process, they can now take comfort in the knowledge that this organization, while not completely done retooling, has nonetheless committed to putting a winning product on the ice.

What the Panarin Signing Means For the Rangers

Now this is what I call an off season. Since hiring John Davidson to be their President of Hockey Operations, the Rangers have been on quite a roll.

First they acquired defenseman Adam Fox from the Carolina Hurricanes for a second round pick. Next they fleeced the Winnipeg Jets out of defenseman Jacob Trouba for what amounted to Neal Pionk and the same first round pick they received for Kevin Hayes at last year's trading deadline. Then with their own number one pick they drafted Kaapo Kakko, the player everyone agrees is going to be a star in this league.

For most organizations, that would be a pretty good haul. But Davidson and company weren't done. On the first day of free agency, they signed Artemi Panarin - arguably the best player on the board - to a 7 year $81.5 million dollar contract. The cap hit comes out to $11.6 million per year, meaning the Rangers will have to do some pruning in order to sign their other players and still remain under the salary cap. As of this moment they have just over $8 million in cap space and they still need to sign their RFAs: Trouba, Brendan Lemieux, Pavel Buchnevich and Tony Deangelo. Assuming Trouba gets $7 million - he was making $5.5 last season - Buchnevich gets $3 million and Lemieux and Deangelo each get a million, that puts the Rangers $4 million over the cap. With the deadline for buyouts expiring this past Sunday, trades are the only option available to G.M. Jeff Gorton.

So who goes? The smart money's on Chris Kreider who, at $4.6 million against the cap, is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season and, apart from Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, is the team's most marketable player. He could easily fetch a first round pick. But ask yourself this question: Does this team really need another first round pick or bodies that can help them win? I submit the latter. With that in mind, I think Gorton should do everything possible to keep Kreider. Players who can score between 25 and 30 goals a season don't grow on trees. In fact, the Rangers just ponied up $81 million to get their hands on one.

Yes, I know Kreider can be an enigma. He had 20 goals halfway through last season and just 8 the rest of the way, but part of that slump was due to the fact that Mats Zuccarello, his line mate, had been dealt at the trade deadline. I'd hate to give up on him only to see him become a star elsewhere. Will he demand a huge pay raise? Of course, but keep in mind, the Rangers are currently carrying $3.6 million in dead cap space courtesy of the Dan Girardi buyout two years ago. Next year, that number goes down to $1.1 million. That's a net gain of $2.5 million, all of which can go to Kreider.

If I were management, I'd try to get what I can for Vladislav Namestnikov, who at $4 million against the cap, has been a bust since he came here as part of the Ryan McDonagh deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Even if all they get is a second or third round pick, it's worth it. I'd much rather move an underperforming player than one who could play an integral part in a resurgent team looking to make its first post season appearance in three years.

But apart from the cap concerns, Panarin is the most significant acquisition this team has made in quite some time. He isn't just a scorer, he's a complete player who makes others around him better. He was clearly the best player for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season and he led the team in playoff scoring with 11 points in 10 games. He's Rick Nash, if Nash had been a clutch player. Don't be surprised if head coach David Quinn doesn't have Zibanejad centering a line with Panarin on the left and Kakko on the right.

And now for the sixty-four thousand dollar question. Does Panarin get the Rangers into the playoffs? That depends on whether the "kids" develop the way everybody hopes they do. Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson - both centers - will be entering their second NHL season and one of them has to blossom in order for this team to have a legitimate second line. Brett Howden and Ryan Strome will likely center the third and fourth lines. If Kreider stays, his presence will greatly enhance the team's chances of a post-season spot.

One thing's for certain: this year's Rangers will be a lot more entertaining to watch than last year's, and the following year will be even better. As this core grows up and begins to establish itself, we could be looking at a truly solid team for years to come. Once Henrik Lundqvist and Marc Staal are gone in two years, this will be one of the youngest teams in the league.

The group of players that Glen Sather assembled over a decade ago came close a couple of times to drinking from Lord Stanley's Cup. Maybe with Davidson at the helm this time around, lady luck might shine her light on this organization and bless it with a championship or two.

1994 is getting to be a long time ago.

The Rangers Find Their Man and, Oh Baby, Does He Have A Lot On His Plate

The search for Glen Sather's replacement has officially come to an end. John Davidson, former President of Hockey Operations for both the St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets, is coming to the New York Rangers to become their President of Hockey Operations.

Let's cut to the chase. This isn't a repeat of 1986, when the Rangers' braintrust turned the keys of the kingdom over to Phil Esposito, a former player and team announcer who thought he had what it took to build a Stanley Cup championship team. However, a series of bad trades - most notably Mike Ridley and Kelly Miller for Bobby Carpenter - set the franchise back years and Esposito was eventually fired after only three seasons. But while Espo bombed on Broadway, Davidson won't. That's because this isn't his first rodeo. He has already successfully built two teams in both St. Louis and Columbus; the latter having completed a sweep of this year's President Trophy winner Tampa Bay Lightning. He knows the league inside and out and is well respected by his peers. The Rangers appear to have struck gold here.

That being said, Davidson has quite the challenge on his hands. As a result of a purge that started two seasons ago, the Blueshirts have more kids on their roster than the freshman class at Hofstra, as well as two picks in each of the first two rounds of this year's NHL draft. Thanks to a fortuitous bounce in the lottery, their own number one just happens to be the second overall pick. The last time the Rangers had a pick this high was 1966, the year they selected Brad Park. The pressure couldn't be greater.

Assuming they don't pull a Gettleman and go for some obscure player that won't play for maybe three years and is at best a second rounder - unlikely - they will probably wind up with either center Jack Hughes or right wing Kaapo Kakko. Kakko, at 194 pounds, is the more developed player and could conceivably make the team this season, so let's hope the Devils take Hughes at number one.

But apart from the draft, Davidson will have to contend with a depleted bench and whether or not to use the team's considerable cap space of $20 million to address areas of need via free agency. It's no secret that the Rangers have had their eyes fixed on free agent Artemi Panarin of the Blue Jackets for quite some time. Davidson traded for him two years ago, and while the smart money has him going to the Florida Panthers, it's possible J.D. could convince him that the bright lights of Broadway would be a better place for him to lace up his skates than the palm trees of South Beach.

Panarin will not come cheap, though. He's probably looking for a long-term deal somewhere between $10 and $12 million per, and based on his stats he's worth every penny. At just 27, he could easily play another 8 or 9 years, and yes, he's a winger in a long line of wingers on a team that desperately needs a center, but couldn't you just see him playing on the same line with Kakko on the right and Mika Zibanejad in the middle? Now that would be something to behold.

But even if Davidson and G.M. Jeff Gorton can't entice Panarin to come to Broadway, one thing they must not do is entertain the thought for even a second of trading for Pengiuns center Evgeni Malkin, who will be 33 next season and is coming off a down year in which he missed 14 games. No matter how tempting the offer might be - and let's be honest, for Pittsburgh it would basically be a salary dump - Malkin is a terrible fit for a young team like this. If he were five years younger yes - make that definitely yes - but with the Rangers at least two years away from possible contention, it would rank as one of the dumbest moves this franchise has ever made; and, let's not forget, this is the same franchise that gave away Rick Middleton for Ken Hodge.

Then there's the decision about whether to buy out the contract of Marc Staal. At 32, Staal is clearly showing his age. He has two seasons remaining at $5.7 million per. If the Rangers buy him out it they would have to carry four years of dead cap space, the majority of which would be in the first two years: $2.9 million and $3.7 million respectively. That's $6.6 million for a player not even on the roster. On the bright side, they would free up $2.8 million this season that they could put towards acquiring a player like 28 year old Matt Duchene, the center the Blueshirts desperately need and who, as an unrestricted free agent, will command a healthy raise from the $6 million he made last season with Columbus. Let's say Davidson offers $11 million to Panarin and $10 million to Duchene and they each accept. That would give the Rangers two outstanding lines going into next season. Not bad for his first month on the job.

Think about it: a solid draft, two significant signings, a contract buyout, plus a trade or two, and just like that the 2019-20 Rangers could have themselves a fairly promising season.