The Florida Panthers have stated publicly that they're looking to make a big splash in the off-season. This is the third part of a league-wide search for great potential trading partners for the Panthers. Today we will look at the New York Rangers.
If you missed some of the previous teams you can find them here...
Chicago Blackhawks
Vancouver Canucks
Detroit Red Wings
Montreal Canadiens
Arizona Coyotes
New York Rangers: (34-39-9 77 points)
Draft picks owned: 1st round (#9, #26 & #30), 2nd round (#39 & #48), 3rd round (#70 & #88), 4th round (#101), 5th round (#132), 6th round (#163)
UFA's: David Desharnais (C), Paul Carey (C), Cody McLeod (W), Ryan Sproul (D), Ondrej Pavelec (G)
RFA's:Ryan Spooner (C/LW), Kevin Hayes (C), Jimmy Vesey (LW), Vladislav Namestnikov (C/LW), Rob O'Gara (D), John Gilmour (D), Brad Skjej (D)
The New York Rangers officially went in to rebuild mode after shipping out top defenseman Ryan McDonagh and former first overall pick Rick Nash. The organization even sent a letter to the fan base informing them that the rebuild was on.
The Rangers have five fairly significant restricted free agents that will need new contracts and this will be one of their main focuses in the off-season. They also have three first round picks and two second and third round picks. Clearly, New York is looking to refill their prospect pipeline with new talent.
The Florida Panthers have stated that they would like to upgrade at defense, and the Rangers have a very interesting situation that will need to be rectified. Defenseman Brendan Smith was acquired by the Rangers from the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline in 2017. He had an excellent playoff so this prompted NYR's General Manager Jeff Gorton to sign Smith to a four year, $17.4 million dollar deal with a $4.35 million dollar cap hit.
After coming to training camp out-of-shape, Smith failed to meet expectations throughout the season, eventually being put on waivers and sent to the minors. Six weeks after clearing waivers and playing for the Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford,
Smith got into a fight in practice with rookie Vinni Lettieri, subsequently breaking his hand.
Needless to say, Brendan Smith may need a change of scenery. Gone are his old Wisconsin alumnists in McDonagh and Derek Stepan (dealt to Arizona). It's time for New York to deal their third Badger in 12 months.
In order to make a trade work with the Panthers, the first caveat would need to be New York eating some of Smith's salary. Perhaps even just the money that the Rangers save by having him in the minors makes him affordable enough. In any case, this is a concession Gorton would need to make in order to find a suitor for Smith.
The piece going back to the Rangers could be any number of mid-level prospects or something along the lines of a third round pick. The other interesting option would be Florida's backup goaltender James Reimer. He has a $3.4 million dollar cap hit with two years left on his deal, very similar to Brendan Smith. The Rangers may be looking to protect future Hall of Fame goaltender Henrik Lundqvist by giving him a decent backup who can play 30-40 games.
Granted this would leave Florida without a backup goalie, so this would be contingent on them being able to sign a free agent goaltender. The Panthers will likely need to wait a season or two for former third round pick Samuel Montembeault to be NHL ready.
Reimer being dealt is an interesting thought since it could allow for Florida to sign a cheaper backup and allocate that money elsewhere. Although, given Roberto Luongo's inability to stay healthy, it may be better to stick with the draft pick.
To Florida
Brendan Smith (D) (new cap hit of $3.25 million)
To New York Rangers
Third Round Pick in 2019
$1.1 million per year of Brendan Smith's remaining two-year contract
This deal allows Smith a change of scenery and an opportunity to find his game again, the Rangers can continue to get younger as Smith is 29 years-old, and the Panthers get a defenseman who has the potential to play in their top-four if he recaptures his former ability. Even if he's only able to play on their bottom pairing, he'd be an excellent depth defenseman.
The next potential trade partner for the Florida Panthers will be the
Edmonton Oilers.
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