There is no ambivalence within management. The Blueshirts, we’re told on good authority, view the Feb. 26 trade deadline as a unique opportunity to refresh the roster and replenish the organization, regardless of where the club stands in relation to a playoff spot.
The mandate, approved (if not established) in the owner’s suite by Jim Dolan, is to build a Stanley Cup winner rather than to simply extend a seven-year playoff streak that is in jeopardy.
The objective is to add young NHL or NHL-ready players every bit as much as garnering additional selections in upcoming entry drafts. Teams in the market for rentals generally own picks in the overall 24-to-31 range. You can get a good player toward the bottom of the first round, but generally not a franchise guy even if Boston’s David Pastrnak (25th in 2014) might prove a notable exception to the rule. The Rangers are neither plotting nor anticipating a deep dive to the league’s nether regions from which it can take years to escape.
The Blueshirts should be able to cash in on Rick Nash, the most attractive rental property on the market. He is the perfect fit for a team seeking to fortify its top six and that wouldn’t need him to be a first, or even second, goal-scoring option up front. Dallas, St. Louis and San Jose would appear good matches. Perhaps even Tampa Bay, with Ondrej Palat down for up to a couple of months. All have the ingredients to work a deal for No. 61, who is believed to have submitted his trade-approval list over the summer.
This, too, on Nash, for whom the return based on historical norms should be a legit youngster plus a first-rounder: The Blueshirts can assume up to 50 percent of No. 61’s full-season, $7.8 million cap hit.
Flipping Michael Grabner — who could be signed as a free agent over the summer if the stars align — could bring back a first-rounder or a young roster player. Nick Holden might be worth a third or a fourth in a league where contenders have no choice other than to bulk up on the blue line. David Desharnais should be able to bring back a fourth or fifth.
Beyond the rentals, the Rangers are prepared to deal Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zuccarello, both of whom are 2019 free agent-eligible and neither of whom seems likely to get a long-term, pricey extension. The trade market for both would by definition be expanded at the draft when essentially every team is in play, but their immediate value might be higher now to a more limited field.
McDonagh is the blue chip here, by far the most attractive commodity on the virtual market. There is no question about it. The 28-year-old should flourish again in a more structured environment in which he would not be expected to carry the enormous burden that’s been on his shoulders (and has weighed on him) for the last three years.
What would McDonagh be worth to asset-rich contenders such as Toronto, Boston and Tampa Bay, who would get the captain for two playoffs at the price of a one-and-a-quarter-season cap charge? My goodness, more than a decade ago, a 36-year-old Brian Leetch brought back a first-rounder, a second-rounder and two prospects.
General manager Jeff Gorton should drive a hard bargain here. He should think big and go big and if he is unable to attract a big enough return, he should walk away from the table and revisit the situation at the draft. Clearly, surrendering McDonagh at the deadline would create an immediately unfillable vacancy in the lineup. Everyone understands that. No one is giving away No. 27.
Zuccarello, who just hasn’t had the same zip to his game or jump to his step throughout the year, is not in quite the same category as McDonagh, but he too has enhanced value to contenders as a two-for-one-and-a-quarter guy who should yield a significant return.
Now, the Norwegian has an important place in the Rangers room and hierarchy — as obviously do Nash and McDonagh — but the Blueshirts have been standing in place for a while as competitors accelerate past them. Management recognizes that stagnation is not the way to go. If a playoff berth is the cost of taking a step back in order to take two forward, so be it.
That is the new reality on Broadway after the Rangers’ pretty, pretty, pretty good from 2011-12 through 2016-17 just wasn’t quite good enough to win it all.