The popular theory is that Dan Girardi is the Rangers blueliner that has to be moved above all others, but given the ‘noises’ emanating from the organisation, Girardi appears unlikely to be moved this year unless the Rangers have suddenly become adept at the art of miscommunication. This all brings us to Marc Staal and why he, not Girardi, is the must-make move for the Rangers in order for the franchise to re-boot their blueline.
Marc Staal – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
This week we saw the Carolina Hurricanes and the Chicago Blackhawks swing a trade (that sent Brian Bickell and highly regarded talent Teuvo Teravainen to the Canes for draft picks) that clearly showed the Canes’ hand in terms of where their organisational mindset is. That mindset? Make the cap floor (which they need to acquire another $8m in cap to reach), acquire assets to do so, get younger and aim long term. No shame in that approach for a budget team so long as the long term goals are met. Again, this all brings us back to Marc Staal.
Yes, this potential move (Staal to the Canes) has been beaten to death for over a year now and has been all over the internet but the Canes’ mindset, so identifiable through the aforementioned Bickell trade, shows it is a move that is now absolutely plausible. The Bickell move also gives us an indication of the type of price the Rangers would have to pay to get this kind of deal done.
Let’s talk money: Staal has an increasingly problematic cap charge of $5.7m until the end of the ‘20-21 season (ouch). He has a no movement clause which eventually downgrades to a no trade clause so Staal controls his own fate so he’d need to want to go to Carolina and there’s no public knowledge yet of any desire to do this.
Let’s not beat to death the obvious reasons that link him to the Canes other than acknowledge they still exist thanks to family ties. Carolina represents the Rangers best chance (assuming they even want to) to rid themselves of one of their horrible defensive contracts – the need to exchange salary is there for both franchises.
So what is the cost to do business I hear you ask? The presumptive cost to rid themselves of Staal is why this is one of the Rangers five controversial moves we’ve discussed that they must make. The Rangers are stacked in net – at all levels. The Hurricanes are clearly not stacked in net and are clinging to their past (and thus a willingness to lose in the short term?) by possibly retaining Cam Ward again beyond this season. The Rangers should consider moving a goaltending prospect to help this move happen.
The Hurricanes do have Eddie Lack – who could still develop into a solid full time starter – and they do boast a solid prospect in Alex Nedeljkovic who is now ready to enter the pro ranks full time (he had a brief ECHL stint a while back) but he is not as far down the development path as Brandon Halverson, Igor Shesterkin or even a guy such as Mackenzie Skapski – assuming full health. Nedeljkovic has actually stagnated slightly after a subpar year in the OHL but he remains the Canes best goaltending prospect. The goaltending position however remains an area of need for them.
The Rangers should absolutely entertain giving up a good prospect in Halverson or a decent pro prospect in Skapski (along with Staal) to get out from under the anchor that is Marc Staal’s contract. They have the long term depth in the position.
The Blackhawks have shown you can get value as well as cap space in return, and while the Rangers cannot realistically send the Canes a prospect equal to Teravainen, nor would the Rangers need to demand a 2nd round pick to make a deal happen. The main focus here is cap space.
Do you think the Rangers would take a 3rd round draft pick for Marc Staal and, say, Mackenzie Skapski? Well so much depends on whether the Rangers have even begun to embrace the need to move on from Staal and/or Girardi and early indications are that they aren’t in that headspace yet however their ability to have a proactive summer may hinge on it.
In what promises to be a busy offseason all over the NHL, there are moves out there that the Rangers can make. The problem is that one or more of those franchise changing moves will need to include moving a prospect or two. Not an easy situation for Jeff Gorton to deal with but one he needs to handle.
Moving Staal and including a prospect that the franchise can ‘afford’ to lose is not ideal. Losing another prospect won’t be popular among the fanbase especially as it would be to a club that, in hindsight, fleeced the Rangers at the trade deadline but this move helps the Rangers. Freedom from a bad deal with minimal impact to the organisation doesn’t sound too bad to me.
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