Rangers Offseason Strategy

The Rangers have another fascinating offseason underway.  Last year, which now seems so long ago, the Rangers won the #2 pick in the lottery, traded 2 2's for the rights to Adam Fox, traded their second 1, and Neil Pionk for Jacob Trouba, had a strong draft and then made Artemi Panarin Rich.  This year, they head into the offseason having won the #1 pick in the draft lottery, as well as another first rounder they got for Brady Skjei. Beyond that they have no 2's because of the Adam Fox deal, but do have 2 3's and one pick each in the 4th, 5th, and 6th and 2 picks in the 7th round.

Whereas last year and in previous years the salary cap went up, because of the of the Covid overkill, NHL Owners expect a flat cap this year and possibly for the next few years. We could go on and on about how ridiculous caps are, but this year's will be flat and that's what's in front of the Rangers.  So. it's unlikely that the Rangers can solve any roster issues by giving out another Artemi Panarin deal.  Fortunately, there's no one of commensurate value in this year's UFA class.

So the Rangers best bets to keep building this autumn will be through trades and the draft.  Though the Rangers already have the first and 22 or so picks in the first round, they should pursue more. They have to decide who on the team and in the pipeline is core or future core, and be willing to trade those that aren't.  Seeing what Toronto got for Kapanen, the Rangers should be looking for a similar return for Buchnevich.  Buch is a good player but is not a top 3 forward in the Rangers organization, and with Lafreniere and others on the way, he's a great player to use to get another pick between 10 and 20 in this historically deep draft.

The Rangers also have Strome and Deangelo as RFA's who need new deals.  If the Rangers can move Buch's 4M, are those 2 really the best place to spend the additional cap space?  Or would it be gbetter to trade both of them for more picks including some 2's? Then, with more cap space the Rangers might be able to offer sheet a young RFA C or, more likely trade a new found pick or two and their RFA's for young C or LHD to go with Trouba.

It's unclear if the Rangers are seeing things the same way. They clearly value Strome and think he's an important part of the room, That said, on a good team, which the Rangers still aren't quite, Strome is a 3C so he shouldn't be overpaid.  They should hope that the draft and the trade market can bring better help for Panarin or whoever is on the second line.

If they can't get more firsts and a second or two, the Rangers should use their second first rounder for a C who they can stash in college, overseas or in the AHL while he develops and have Morgan Barron and Philip Chytil sort out C while they wait. And then use the 2 3's on a pair of prep or overseas D's they can stash in college or keep overseas.

Let's hope they can trade roster value for draft value, then use the extra picks to address 2C and LHD, even if it means putting them in another trade.