The New York Rangers have fully embraced the retool. General manager Chris Drury made his first big move of the new era, dealing winger Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings just hours before Wednesday’s NHL roster freeze.
While the Rangers aren’t tearing it down, they are looking for a different mix after such a disappointing season. The Panarin deal was the key point of business that needed to get done, but it would be foolish to think the moves are over now.
The NHL roster freeze ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Feb. 22, at which point NHL teams will have just under two weeks until the March 6 trade deadline. That’ll give the Rangers a window to swing more deals as they shake up their roster.
While Panarin is a big name leaving the organization, it’s unlikely that future trades will be the same. Drury has been very clear that he’s not looking to go through a full-on rebuild and wants to get back to contention without bottoming out.
“As we said in the letter, it is a retool,” Drury said, per the New York Post’s Mollie Walker. “We’re certainly not going to sit here and put a timeline on it right now. We’re going to try to do everything we can to get back to being a contending team as quickly as we can.”
Vincent Trocheck, C
The logical next piece to go is center Vincent Trocheck, who has 12 goals and 36 points in 48 games so far this year. The 32-year-old is playing for Team USA at the Milano Cortina Olympics later this month, giving him a chance to showcase his game in front of the hockey world with the deadline approaching.
Trocheck’s name has been in the rumour mill a ton as of late. While getting close to the latter stage of his career, he has four straight 20-goal seasons and seems likely to add a fifth this year.
The Pittsburgh native has three years left on his deal after this one at a very reasonable $5.625 million cap hit. He also has a 12-team no-trade list, which gives him some control over his destination. Trocheck would be a great addition for any contender looking for more help down the middle this spring.
Possible destinations include the Minnesota Wild or his former team, the Carolina Hurricanes.
The underwhelming return in the Panarin trade makes getting the most value possible out of any potential Trocheck deal incredibly important.
Braden Schneider, D
Braden Schneider is playing a career-high in minutes this season, cracking the 20-minute-per-night mark for the first time in his career. That’s an encouraging step from the 24-year-old blueliner, but the on-ice results haven’t been as rosy.
The big-bodied Schneider has long been one of the Rangers’ more interesting prospects on the blue line, but that potential hasn’t been totally fulfilled. He hasn’t lived up to the expectations given when he was the 19th overall pick in the 2020 NHL draft.
Schneider has been on ice for 30 goals-for compared to 48 goals against this season at five-on-five. The Rangers have also been outshot 451-363 during those minutes.
It feels like Schneider’s time in New York could be coming to an end soon. As a big, right-handed blueliner and former first-round pick, there will surely be teams interested in a trade, although the expected return doesn’t include any premium assets.
Sam Carrick, C
While Sam Carrick isn’t as big a name as the others on this list, he’s still a strong candidate to get moved before the trade deadline. Carrick is 34 years old and has nine points in 54 games so far this year, but is exactly the type of player teams love to add for the playoffs. He’s a right-handed centre, wins 53.6% of his face-offs, and can be used on the penalty kill.
Carrick’s contract costs just $1 million against the cap and has one more year left after this one. That’s easy for even some of the most cap-strapped teams to fit for the stretch run.
Teams won’t be rushing to open their wallets to pry Carrick away from the Rangers, but Drury should be able to get a mid-round pick in exchange for the veteran centre. With the Rangers’ playoff hopes already over, it seems like a logical deal to stack another draft pick.
