Breaking down options for New York Rangers, East rivals ahead of NHL Trade Deadline
The Christmas shopping season is gone. The shopping season for NHL general managers is just heating up.
New York Rangers GM Chris Drury and his counterparts around the League are making their lists and checking them twice as they look to see whether they’ll be buyers and/or sellers as the March 7 deadline approaches.
The Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche got things started last Friday when the Avalanche sent two-time 100-point scorer Mikko Rantanen to the ’Canes for forward Martin Necas, center Jack Drury and two draft picks. They also traded another draft pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for forward Taylor Hall, who won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2017-18.
Neither the Rangers nor the gaggle of teams they’re battling for a playoff berth are likely to make any deals as big as that one. But they’ll have to decide what they need – and which assets they’re willing to trade to get them.
With five of the eight playoff berths in the East (two in the Atlantic Division, three in the Metropolitan) all but decided, teams also have to determine as the deadline draws nearer whether their playoff chances are worth adding talent — or if it’s time to sell.
Here’s a look at the Rangers and the teams they’re battling against for a playoff spot as trade season heats up. All deadline cap figures are from Puckpedia.
Related: NHL insider warns Rangers, NHL teams to do ‘homework’ on J.T. Miller before making trade
Breaking down what Rangers, East rivals could do ahead of NHL trade deadline
New York Rangers (24-22-2; 6th in Metro, 13th in East, 5 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $22,949,420
The remodeled Rangers made two major trades in December, sending their captain, defenseman Jacob Trouba, to the Anaheim Ducks and forward Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken. The return was two defenseman, Urho Vaakanainen and Will Borgen, who’ve fit in well on the bottom four. The Rangers also claimed 23-year-old forward Arthur Kaliyev off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings; he has two goals and an assist in 10 games.
New York got back into the playoff hunt with an 8-3-3 mark in January after a disastrous 4-15-0 stretch in their final 19 games of 2024, although the Rangers are coming off back-to-back home losses to Colorado and Carolina. But the solid showing in January hasn’t been enough to put them into a playoff position, so don’t be surprised if Drury makes at least one more significant trade – the Rangers have been linked in talks with the Vancouver Canucks for center J.T. Miller.
The question is whether Drury will try to make a big splash for Miller, a top-six forward or perhaps another defenseman, or ditch a contract or two (See: Ryan Lindgren Reilly Smith, Jimmy Vesey) and let some of the Rangers’ young talent, such as forward Brennan Othmann, see what they can do in the heat of a playoff race.
In playoff position
Ottawa Senators (27-20-4; 3rd in Atlantic)
Deadline cap space: $3,330,833
The Senators wasted a two-goal third-period lead on Thursday but defeated the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime to maintain their hold on third place in the Atlantic.
The Senators are surviving the absence of starting goaltender Linus Ullmark, who’s been out since Dec. 22 with a back injury, thanks to the play of Anton Forsberg and rookie Leevi Merilainen. But injuries have forced them to use AHL call-ups like Nikolas Matinpalo on defense and Zack Ostapchuk up front, so depth trades could be a priority.
Ottawa hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017-18, so expect GM Steve Staios to make whatever moves he feels his team needs to get back to the postseason. The most likely moves, if he can find a partner, would be to acquire a righty-shooting defenseman and/or a wing who can score.
Tampa Bay Lightning (27-20-3; 4th in Atlantic; first wild card)
Deadline cap space: $1,792,070
Few general managers have been more willing that Tampa Bay’s Julien BriseBois to go for it as the trade deadline nears. Whether he’ll have the assets – the Lightning are without their first-round draft pick — and cap room to do more than tinker around the edges is the question.
If an NHL roster had 10-12 players, the Lightning would be in great shape. They have Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli up front, Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Erik Cernak and J.J. Moser (when he returns from injury) on defense and Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal. Vasilevskiy was in goal for a 3-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
The problem is that after third-line center Nick Paul, there’s no scoring depth in the bottom six. Expect BriseBois to try to bring in a low-priced two-way forward who can mesh with Paul and give the top six some support. Perhaps, that player could be two-time Stanley Cup champion Brandon Saad, who had his contract terminated with the St. Louis Blues this week but still appears to have something left in the tank on a League minimum deal.
Columbus Blue Jackets (25-19-7; 4th in Metro, second wild card)
Deadline cap space: $46,151,240
After their best player, forward Johnny Gaudreau, was killed in a cycling accident in late August, it would have been impossible to imagine that the Blue Jackets would be in the playoff hunt. But the Blue Jackets continue to ride a sensational season by defenseman Zach Werenski and breakout seasons by young players such as Kirill Marchenko as they battle for a playoff berth that few, if anyone, thought they even had a chance to earn.
Columbus opened its four-game road trip Thursday with a 2-1 overtime win at Vegas to move back into the second wild card.
The Blue Jackets expect the return of captain Boone Jenner and rugged defenseman Eric Gudbranson will add some toughness to the lineup. But if GM Don Waddell goes shopping, don’t be surprised if he looks for big forwards who can produce some offense and offer some protection for the kids.
The one veteran Waddell may be willing to trade is defenseman Ivan Provorov, an impending UFA who has said he wants to stay. Cap space isn’t an issue, but if Waddell is afraid of losing him in free agency without any return, the 28-year-old would likely bring back a significant haul in talent and draft picks.
TSN’s Pierre Lebrun reported Thursday that the Blue Jackets are speaking with the Canucks about Elias Pettersson, in what would be a massive move on their part if a trade is consummated.
In the chase
Boston Bruins (25-22-6; 5th in Atlantic, ninth in East; 1 point out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $5,718,334
The Bruins are hanging on in the race despite a minus-29 goal differential. It’s hard to see that lasting unless GM Don Sweeney makes some moves. Firing the coach won’t help — he did that in November by sacking Jim Montgomery.
Sweeney opened his checkbook last summer with the thought that bringing in Elias Lindholm would fill the hole at No. 1 center. That hasn’t happened; Lindholm has been demoted to the third line, with Pavel Zacha manning the top spot between David Pastrnak and Morgan Geekie. Zacha is a useful player, but he’s not an ideal No. 1 center. The two goaltenders, Jeremy Swayman and Joonas Korpisalo, each has a save percentage below .900.
Boston will look for an offense-minded center. Finding one isn’t likely to be easy, even if the Bruins are willing to give up a first-round pick this year or next. With the Bruins having already played 53 times, every contender has games in hand on them – some have two or three. If his team continues to struggle, Sweeney could be a seller instead of a buyer.
Detroit Red Wings (25-21-5; 6th in Atlantic, 10th in East, 2 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $8,397,971
The Wings appeared to be headed for their ninth straight non-playoff season when they reached the Christmas break at 13-17-4. But GM Steve Yzerman changed coaches, firing Derek Lalonde and bringing in Todd McLellan, and Detroit has looked like a different team since then. They won their fourth in a row on Thursday by overcoming an early two-goal deficit to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in a shootout to begin a four-game trip. The win moved the Red Wings within two points of the second wild card.
With his team so close to making the playoffs for the first time since 2016, it’s hard to imagine Yzerman being a seller (as it appeared he might be five weeks ago). If he adds, expect him to look for a scorer who can help not only this season but for years to come.
Whether that kind of player is available during the season is a separate issue, but the Wings need to add offense behind Dylan Larkin, Lucas Raymond and Alex DeBrincat — all three have reached the 20-goal mark; no one else on the team has hit double figures.
New York Islanders (23-20-7; 5th in Metro, 11th in East, 4 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $1,806,667
The Isles made it six wins in a row and nine in their past 11 games with a 3-0 victory against the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday. They still don’t score much, and their power play is horrendous, but coach Patrick Roy has them playing terrific defense (seven goals allowed during the winning streak) and they’ve leap-frogged the Rangers, among other teams, to give themselves a chance at a wild-card berth.
The Islanders have the League’s fourth-oldest roster, almost no cap space and a weak prospect pool, so GM Lou Lamoriello doesn’t have much to work with. However, he’s found bargain-basement pickups Tony DeAngelo and Scott Perunovich to plug the holes on defense left by injuries to Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock, who should be back at some point.
If Lamoriello decides to sell, he has veterans such as centers Brock Nelson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau, as well as forward Kyle Palmieri, who should attract a lot of attention and bring in some more much-needed young talent.
Montreal Canadiens (24-22-5; 7th in Atlantic, 12th in East, 4 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $6,447,500
The Canadiens were flying high about 10 days ago, 10-2-1 in their first 13 games after the Christmas break. Then reality hit: Montreal is 0-3-1 in its past four games, including a 4-0 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
It’s hard to imagine the rebuilding Canadiens, led by former Rangers GM Jeff Gorton and loaded with young talent, doing any serious shopping. The lone exception might be on defense, where they need a right-handed shot to allow lefty-shooting Mike Matheson to go back to his natural side. The Canadiens also need to replace Kaiden Guhle, who’s out indefinitely after surgery to repair a lacerated quadriceps muscle.
Montreal has a lot of rentals, including veteran forwards Jake Evans and Joel Armia, as well as defenseman David Savard, who should attract interest if it decides to go in that direction.
Philadelphia Flyers (23-24-6; 7th in Metro, 14th in East, 5 points out of wild card)
Deadline cap space: $5,023,177
The rebuilding Flyers have lost four of their past five games after a 5-0-1 run that got them into the playoff race. Philadelphia desperately needs to get better up the middle; until that happens, it’s hard to envision the Flyers not falling out of the race in the next couple of weeks.
They got a head start on the deadline Thursday by sending a pair of 25-year-old forwards, Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost, to the Calgary Flames for forwards Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier, plus two draft picks.
GM Daniel Briere doesn’t have any pending unrestricted free agents. Players who’ve been mentioned in trade talk (Rasmus Ristolainen and Scott Laughton are two of the most talked-about) have term left on their contracts, which figures to diminish interest.
Don’t be surprised if Briere does some more selling before the deadline as he prepares for the Draft in June, where he’ll have three first-round picks and four more in the second round.
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