Play Along with the Rangers' Rebuild

With the New York Rangers first asking upcoming Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) Rick Nash for his list of 12 teams he would accept a trade to thanks to his Modified No-Trade Clause (M-NTC) and then, in an unprecedented move, formally announcing that the team was fundamentally flawed and essentially giving up on the 2017/18 season, it is time for every true Rangers’ fan to put on their General Manager’s hat and try to figure out the best path through the maze and pitfalls of rebuilding an NHL team in the salary cap era.

It’s tempting to just start randomly dialing up rival GMs whose teams are still in the playoff hunt to see what they’d fork over for a resurgent Michael Grabner or a slightly used, but still serviceable Rick Nash and throw in 50% salary retention in for good measure to help your counterpart manage their own salary cap snafus. But put down your phone for a moment and think about the big picture before you start making decisions that might complicate things down the road.

The first thing you have to consider here is what kind of rebuild path are you taking. Not all rebuilds are the same and much depends on your short-term tolerance for pain. Do you want to be competitive again as soon as next season? Then you probably have to take Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zuccarello off the trade table. Or are you going completely scorched earth? While it’s easy to start with dumping the upcoming UFAs right away, that may not be the best way to leverage all of your assets.

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I think i'd have to reverse plan on that.

There are a few knowns who IMO need to be moved, and that would be Nash and Grabner.

I'd concentrate on that, rather quickly, and see what return is.

1st round picks? Prospects? And more important, what position any prospects or young roster players fill.

Example: We don't need to move Nash, Zucc, Grabner, and McD for one 1st round pick and 6 defensive prospects.

After that you may have a better feel of what direction you want to head.

I think i'd have to reverse plan on that.

There are a few knowns who IMO need to be moved, and that would be Nash and Grabner.

 

I'd concentrate on that, rather quickly, and see what return is.

1st round picks? Prospects? And more important, what position any prospects or young roster players fill.

 

Example: We don't need to move Nash, Zucc, Grabner, and McD for one 1st round pick and 6 defensive prospects.

 

After that you may have a better feel of what direction you want to head.

Right on puckhead, one step at a time. Have to prioritize the to do list. That doesn't mean you can't consider future moves in decisions, but there is a time limit on the UFAs.

Here's the beautiful thing about the memo. Word is out, we are playing it straight. Our partners might as well not be coy. Two Gms on the phone can discuss Nash and see if there is any interest in Grabs, Holden or elsewhere. We should be able to gauge multiple teams and who is interested in multiple players, which then will tel us who is prepared to make a bigger trade and what their limits are.

For instance, if Tampa is willing to include Sergachev if both McD and Nash are involved, then we know he is not untouchable. Same could be done with Marner. At the very least we can find out what ammo a team is willing to use. Also, leading with McD might reveal who is willing to part with a #1.