Perry Nelson – USA TODAY Sports
So it’s come to this for the New York Rangers. After yet another pathetic, mistake-laden loss, this time to the Nashville Predators, it is time to face some harsh realities. Are the Rangers good enough to win a Stanley Cup? The answer is an emphatic no. Are they good enough to make the playoffs? The answer has become perhaps.
Key forwards such as Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes are not pulling their weight. Their supposed “top” defensemen, Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal have become the NHL’s worst defensive tandem, seemingly overnight. It is now no longer insane to at least consider whether or not head coach Alain Vigneault has lost the team. A month and a half of awful play is enough of a sample size to suggest this is no ordinary slump.
It should now be obvious to General Manager Jeff Gorton that a major shakeup is needed. The Rangers, miraculously, remain entrenched in a playoff spot, but with three months left to play, it won’t last much longer without adjustments. Rangers fans can’t expect top prospects Brady Skjei and Pavel Buchnevich to arrive on white horses in March or April and magically carry them deep in the playoffs. Therefore, painful, but necessary adjustments must come externally.
The team’s two major needs are a top-six forward, and a big-bodied, physical defenseman. These players are: Jordan Eberle of the Edmonton Oilers, and Dustin Byfuglien of the Winnipeg Jets. Given the Rangers’ current salary cap situation, it will be extremely complicated to get both, but there is a way it can be done.
Eberle carries a cap hit of $6 million. The Rangers have a little less than $1 million in space remaining. To get Eberle, the Rangers can package Keith Yandle, Kreider, Emerson Etem, and a prospect and/or draft pick to Edmonton. Losing Yandle would really hurt, but it could be an unfortunate necessity. Kreider, an impending restricted free agent, is not earning his forthcoming raise, and has blown his opportunity to prove he is an indispensable player. Etem’s role on the team is clearly undefined. Eberle would be a perfect fit on the Rangers’ top lines.
It gets a little more complicated with Byfuglien, an impending unrestricted free agent. In order to obtain him, the Rangers will need to ask Marc Staal to waive his no-trade clause. He is only 28, is still in the prime of his career, and still has some upside. Winnipeg is close to his hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Staal could revive his career with a change of scenery, and Byfuglien is the huge defenseman the Rangers desperately need. Staal’s cap hit is $5.7 million, whereas Byfuglien’s is $5.2 million. Winnipeg, more likely than not, will not re-sign Byfuglien. If the New York Islanders would have been able to get Byfuglien for Travis Hamonic, as was rumored, why can’t the Rangers do the same with Staal?
The Rangers made similar moves in their 1994 championship season. They traded a future Hall of Famer in Mike Gartner and a future star in Tony Amonte. At the time, it was painful to see, but as it turned out, it was clearly worth it.
Don’t think the Rangers can’t do something similar again. The reality is, they need to.
Matt Stillwell is a New York Rangers contributor for www.rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattNYR12!
