The Rangers at the Deadline

The Rangers made a flurry of moves today, and they have till 5pm est. Monday before the deadline arrives when not only can no more moves be made, but they have to have on their rosters everyone they want to use in the playoffs.  So it's a big day, either way, even with what they have already done.  The key will be taking Tanner Glass away from AV.  Whether that means trading him, releasing him or sending him to Hartford, something must be done because AV won't stop playing him, and playing him creates too much stress on the rest of the team.

Ideally, they could also find some cap savings, but that doesn't seem likely to happen.

The tough thing today was trading Duclair for Yandle.  Now don't get me wrong, Yandle is a good player and might really excell in AV's system.  He hasn't been on this type of team before, nor has he had good defensive partners who could facilitate the chances he takes on offense.  So it could really be a good fit for Yandle.

That said, when you are lucky enough to find a great prospect like Duclair, you don't include him in a trade for an all-star.  He's going to be an all-star.  You trade him in  a package for a superstar.   And you don't just include him because AZ is willing to pay half of Yandle's remaining contract.   It's not only a bad use of Duclair who should have been kept and added to the front six next year -- but it devalues the rest of your prospects in future trades -- so they'd be wise to hang onto the rest of them and try to get winning utility out of them.

So beyond dumping Glass, and maybe calling up Lindberg or signing Buchnevich so he can be playoff eligible, there's not much else that they can reasonably do.  So we'll see what they do.