It's Time for the Rangers to Move on From Ryan Reaves

Let's be honest here: If Ryan Reaves had been a Ranger during the 2020-21 season, there's no way in hell Tom Wilson would've slammed Artemi Panarin to the ice like a rag doll. There's also no way in hell the Islanders would've manhandled the Blueshirts three straight down the stretch, outscoring them a combined 13-1. The word around the NHL was that the Rangers were soft. And that was putting it mildly.

Reaves' arrival in the summer of 2021 sent a clear and unambiguous message that the days of this team being a patsy were over. From his first shift on opening night, he hit everything in his path. And on those rare occasions when a player who obviously didn't get the memo foolishly decided to take him on, he would glare back at him as if to say, "Dude, you have a choice: you can die of old age or right here and now. Your call." Fortunately, most reconsidered.

Ryan Reaves did his job. This team is respected around the league. Better still, every player in that locker room stands up for each other. When someone is challenged, the whole team responds. I haven't seen a locker room this tight and together since the days when Mark Messier donned a Rangers uniform. Mission accomplished, as far as I'm concerned.

But the sad truth is that if you watched Reaves in the postseason, it was clear that the spirit was willing but the flesh just wasn't up to the task. He was slow, and I mean slow like 1970s Nick Fotiu slow. He was so out of position that he eventually became a defensive liability in his own zone. Frankly, I wasn't surprised that he was a healthy scratch the last couple of games in the Lightning series.

The way the game is played these days you need to be quick on the puck and possess the skills necessary to help your team win. You don't have to be a 20 or 30 goal scorer, but you have to at least keep the other team honest. Apart from his physical prowess, Reaves doesn't do a single thing that can help this team get to the next level, which at this point must be winning the Stanley Cup. He doesn't kill penalties, he's useless four on four, and don't even think about putting him out there on the power play.

With the signing of Vincent Trocheck and the soon to be, any day now, keep your shirt on extension of Kaapo Kakko, the Rangers will have less than $1 million in available cap space if they elect to go with twenty-two players on the roster: thirteen forwards, seven defensemen and two goalies. That's cutting it pretty close. To put that in perspective, last season, the Rangers had the most cap space of any playoff team in the league. That allowed Chris Drury to go shopping for Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp, Tyler Motte and Justin Braun. I need not remind you what contributions those players made to last season's playoff drive.

Obviously, this season presented challenges for Drury that required some creativity on his part. In addition to finding a replacement for Ryan Strome and extending Kakko, there were the new contracts for Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox that were kicking in this season to the tune of $8.5 million and $9.5 million respectively. Fortunately, Henrik Lundqvist's buyout was over, so that gave him $1.5 million to play with. There was also the trade of Alex Georgiev to the Avalanche that freed up an additional $2.4 million, $1.5 of which went to Jaroslav Halak. With the Coyotes agreeing to take Patrick Nemeth's contract off his hands, Drury at least had a fighting chance of putting a good team out on the ice.

But no matter how much he sharpens his pencil, there's simply no math that allows Drury to keep Reaves on this team, not if he plans on being active at the trade deadline, which I presume he will be.

If you look at Capfriendly, the way you calculate deadline cap space is by taking the available cap space and multiplying it by 4.65. So a team with, say, $1 million in available cap space would be able to take on $4.65 million in contracts at the trade deadline. With Reaves on the team, Drury would only have about $3 million in deadline cap space. With him gone and a cheaper replacement on the roster, that amount would go up to $7 million.

Why does that matter? Let's say it's March, and Patrick Kane is still a Chicago Blackhawk, and the Rangers are flirting with the best record in the Eastern Conference. Drury places a call to Kyle Davidson to inquire what it would take to pry him away. The two agree on the compensation, but Davidson balks at retaining 50 percent of Kane's cap hit. He wants at least 60 percent and informs Drury he has two other teams that are willing to meet his demands. 60 percent of $10.5 million comes out to $6.3 million. 

Beginning to get the picture? If Drury doesn't have enough deadline cap space, Kane goes to another team, perhaps one in the Eastern Conference like, say, the Carolina Hurricanes. Imagine losing a best of seven playoff series because your opponent was able to snatch up one of the better forwards in the game. Drury cannot let that happen. If there is anyway to get Kane into a Rangers uniform that doesn't involve giving up key assets, he must do it. 

Look, Ryan Reaves has been a solid citizen in the Rangers locker room. He has done everything the organization has asked of him. But it's time to move on. In the era of the flat salary cap where every dollar counts, $1.75 million can better be spent elsewhere, like the final piece on a Stanley Cup championship.

So Much for a Storm Surge

Don't look now, but the Carolina Hurricanes, the team the so-called experts, myself included, thought was the team to beat in the Eastern conference, are tied with the New York Rangers, the team that the analytics community has been disparaging for much of this season.

Not only are these two teams tied with each other, but after last night's game - a 4-1 Rangers win - the momentum is most decidedly NOT with the team based in Raleigh. In fact, a strong argument can be made that were it not for a game-tying goal late in the third period of game one by Sebastian Aho, the Blueshirts would be on the verge of winning this series Thursday night instead of merely looking to take a 3-2 lead.

Consider the following: In four games, the Canes have managed to score a paltry five goals against Igor Shesterkin; they are 0 for 9 on the power play; and their top two defensemen - Tony DeAngelo and Jaccob Slavin, who racked up eight points a piece against the Boston Bruins in round one - have been held off the score sheet. DeAngelo, in particular, has had a miserable series and seems more intent on picking a fight with Ryan Reaves than helping his team win.

Meanwhile, the Rangers, apart from that third period goal in game one, a short-hander by Brendan Smith in game two and a few pushes by Carolina in games three and four, have been the better team so far in this series. They are out-hustling the Canes; they are getting scoring from all four forward lines; and with the power play now starting to click and Igor living up to his billing, a trip to the conference finals is looking less and less like a pipe dream and more and more like a real possibility.

Ironic, isn't it? Of the four remaining series, this is the only one that's been remotely competitive. The Tampa Bay Lightning disposed of the Florida Panthers - AKA, the Puddy Tats - in four straight; the Edmonton Oilers are currently leading the Calgary Flames 3-1; and barring divine intervention, the Colorado Avalanche will put the St. Louis Blues out of their misery tonight. 

I'm usually not one to eat crow, but even I couldn't have expected this. After all, it's not like the Rangers played like gang busters against the Pittsburgh Penguins. They twice had to overcome two-goal deficits while facing elimination, not once, not twice, but three times. Talk about sudden death. Only an overtime power play goal by Artemi Panarin in game seven prevented what would've been a disappointing first round exit. Even the most die-hard fan would have to admit that beating the Hurricanes was an uphill battle.

Look, they still have to win at least one game in Carolina, and that won't be an easy task. The Hurricanes are 6-0 at home; I fully expect them to step up their game Thursday night. But the Rangers team that takes the ice for game five will have a lot more confidence going for it than the one that showed up in games one and two. They know they can beat this team and, what's more, the Hurricanes know it too. Knowledge is a beautiful thing, if you do something with it.

The Rangers seem to relish the role of underdog in these playoffs; it has served them well. They are two wins away from getting a crack at the two-time Stanley Cup champs. Just imagine what a series between Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy would look like.

I get goosebumps just thinking about it.