By now we all know the top free agents very well (thanks to my colleague Ken Hill who you should follow on twitter- @LWOSpuckhead) but that is great if you are the fan of a team with something called “cap space”. The Rangers do not have much cap space so this is about who they can realistically go after and hopefully, get three more wins than this year, at the end of next season.
New York Rangers Free Agent Targets
Forwards:
First things first (you can admit you just finished that line as Iggy Azelea) the Rangers bought out Brad Richards, and probably won’t resign Brian Boyle. That’s a lot of depth at center lost to a team that wasn’t strong up the middle to begin with. As is, Derek Stepan is the number one, Derrick Brassard is two and then a combination of JT Miller and Dominic Moore (who I also believe will be re-signed) at three and four, whichever you prefer. The Rangers did most of their damage by having a better third line than the other teams, without Richards, its hard to see Moore or Miller giving that kind of punch every night.
Mikhail Grabovski is the best play here. He is CRIMINALLY undervalued by this league, and the last undervalued guys the Rangers picked just so happened to be that Derrick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, and Benoit Pouliot line mentioned above. A 51% Corsi For player, giving about 15 minutes a night is exactly the third line center the Rangers need (per: www.extraskater.com). lastly, he was paid a paltry $3 million last year. If the Rangers are able to entice him to a two or three year deal at $3-3.5 million AAV this will be another win for a GM known for the big splash, instead of an effective one.
Paul Stastny‘s name has come up a lot in recent days regarding the Rangers, many would love to have him and Stepan as a 1/1A scenario. Nobody is doubting Stastny’s ability, or if he is worth the years/money he is looking for, but he is on the cusp of out of the Rangers price range. Unless Stastny wants to play in New York badly, any offer the Rangers can muster (while still retaining key players) will be matched by numerous teams. Getting into a bidding war for Stastny will only make the Rangers worse, ala Pittsburgh Penguins and their amazing top 6 and horrible lack of depth that allowed these very same Rangers to come back from 3-1 down and win the series.
Another criminally undervalued player (I hope you’re starting to notice the trend here) is Ales Hemsky. The right winger finished with 43 points (13/30) in 75 games, in a season that saw he moved at the deadline from the Oilers to the Senators. 29 teams had the chance to pick up Hemsky for pennies on the dollar, and 29 teams should be kicking themselves for missing out. His pervious cap hit is manageable by the Rangers standards ($5 million) but most importantly, this below is Hemsky’s shot chart since 2009. (via www.sportingcharts.com)
That looks like a man who knows how to get in front of the net and shoot. I can’t think of any team that doesn’t need more of that.
Others include: Blake Comeau, Brian Gibbons, Steve Downie
Defense:
With Anton Stralman most likely playing his way out of New York a spot has opened up on the blue line that desperately needs to be filled. The Rangers have Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal and Kevin Klein under contract currently, with John Moore an RFA, and Justin Falk and Raphael Diaz being UFA’s. Dylan McIlrath also waits in Hartford, a big body strong defensemen who is solid in his own zone, but may take time to adjust to Alain Vignault‘s system in New York. With Moore being an RFA he’ll be re-signed, and Diaz is the better puck handler and skater than Falk so he can hopefully stick around, there isn’t a huge need for upgrading the defense corps.
Dan Boyle is a name that gets thrown around a lot and he would be a great fit here. Everyone knows the knocks on Boyle, hes old and slow, but he’s reliable and a solid puck mover. The way the Rangers are set up, letting McIlrath develop, already being deep on the blue line, they should take a flyer on Boyle, worst case scenario you dump him at the trade deadline, best case he helps solidify that bottom pairing.
The big name Defensemen are not what the Rangers need, nor should they be sniffing around guys like Matt Niskanen, Brooks Orpik, (who besides his eventual overpaid status, was bad to begin with) or Matt Greene.
Others Include: no one, weak year for Defensemen
Goalies:
… Just kidding
The bottom line is this team doesn’t need a lot of work. They have a good young core, and some handsome Swede stopping pucks for the next eight years. No need to go wild on the big name guys this year. The Rangers need to replace the guys that left with equally productive guys, that’s what got them all the way to the Cup Final, after all.
For the latest sports injury news, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on twitter @robbedy. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
