The New York Rangers are once again one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. After yet another slow start, the Rangers have rebounded and sit only two points behind the rival New York Islanders for first place in the Metropolitan division with three games in hand. They have done this recently without star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who has missed the last 10 games with a strained blood vessel.
However, like most contenders, there is room for improvement for the Rangers. They could use more depth on the blue line and could use a versatile third or fourth line player. There are big names out on the market — Andrej Sekera, Jeff Petry and Zybnek Michalek, to name a few — that would make the Rangers a much better team. With that being said, the Rangers don’t have the necessary assets or cap space to go out and snag a top rental defenseman or forward.
Outside of top prospects Anthony Duclair, Pavel Buchnevich and Brady Skjei, the Rangers have very few pro prospects in their system. It appears that J.T. Miller has made the jump to full-fledged pro, so you can now cross him off that list. The Rangers also have very few first-round picks over the next couple of seasons, which are assets that most teams would be looking for when giving up a rental player.
So, with all of this being said, the Rangers should stand pat at the deadline and not make any deals. The recent play of Kevin Hayes has trumped the need to go out and get a third-line center. Hayes is getting better in all areas of the game, including face-offs, which have been a big problem for the Rangers this year. Also, Jesper Fast will be returning soon, which will help the Rangers’ fourth line and hopefully put Tanner Glass in the press box. On defense, the Rangers have to hope that Dan Boyle finds his game. If he does, that would allow Kevin Klein to slide down to the third pair, where he is clearly more comfortable.
The Rangers are right there and are going to be contenders in the Eastern Conference when everything is said and done. They could clearly use upgrades at a couple of positions, but with the limited assets they have, the Rangers should not make any deadline moves.