New York Rangers Analysis: The Rangers Don't Need Another Elite Winger

It is proven time and time again that depth helps a team win. The Canucks had the skill but the Bees had the depth to roll 4 lines and the goaltending to ultimately win. Injuries occur all the time and trading 3 players for one can actually dilute the team even if that one player is an elite player. I like the team the way it is with the prospects we have behind them. Look at Miller. Ok he was just signed but it would be dumb to send him to the Whale and lose a year of entry level eligibility. Where would he play on the Rangers in the next year or so? There’s no room right now though they would trade pieces if he were the real deal.

If I was a high-ranking member of the Rangers management, would I be willing to part with Kreider or other prospects to get a proven elite winger?

Uhhhh, yah.

Kreider hasn’t proven anything yet. Junior tournaments aside, he hasn’t done much in the way of production at Boston College. The scouting reports on his game have not changed since the Rangers drafted him. He’s fast. Awesome. Let him be fast somewhere else.

Christian Thomas scored 50 goals in the OHL. So did Ryan Callahan, and he has only just hit the expected offensive production of a second line winger 6 years after he was drafted.

Stepan isn’t at this point good enough on faceoffs to project to the type of pivot that you’d want on a team. So if he’ll be switched to the wing eventually anyways, I would be willing to move him as well.

With Richards coming in at 31 years old, and the other most talented players on the roster pushing 30, it seems to me that you don’t want to waste their years at elite level. Remember, the Rangers have to compete against the Pittsburghs of the world. I’m fairly certain the only reason they didn’t reach the Stanley Cup final for the third time in 4 years was because their two best players, and two of the top 5 players in the league, were injured.

Now is the time to take advantage of the Islanders’ youth, the Devils’ coaching and roster uncertainty, and the Flyers’ roster upheaval. I make a trade for an elite winger in a heartbeat.

but I love prospects and home grown talent, so you’re asking the wrong guy. that said, if we can get a Nash-like winger without trading away everyone…I’d at least give it a shot.

Joe’s analysis is well-reasoned. Give Wolski first line minutes and see if he can deliver. We need to give him the opportunity to show his stuff before his contract ends. If he doesn’t develop chemistry with Richie and Gabby, we can try Dubi, Boyle or Feds. We need to know if Wolski is a keeper or another Frolov. By the way, there is a talented, proven goal scorer who is young and has not been signed named Nik Zherdov. Some Flyer fans think he performed pretty well playing fourth line minutes on a very deep team. I suspect he could be picked up on the cheap. He should be motivated since this is absolutely his last chance in the NHL. Worth a shot?

I agree entirety that space for prospects like Reider and Thomas to fit it is important and partly for that reason I’m in no rush for a top line LW. BUT, after next season when we have a better sense of MDZ, Erixon, and McIl, along with Sauer and McD, I would be open to trading Girardi and maybe Pashnin, Valtank or Kund along with a pick or Bourque etc for a top line LW. I think that could get it done and the winger that comes first to mind is Erikson as Dallas has bad D… We need another year to truly know but we have SO much D and Girardi is the oldest yet will still have a lot of value

How often it doesn’t work out getting a “top talent”. Especially when you have a head coach who expects (demands!) certain things from that top talent that they are not usually succumbing to, like a constant forecheck. It’s much easier to mold a 21/22 year old into the Tortorella style (see Anisimov, who is now becoming a power forward, it was not his game at all), than it is to bring in a talented player who may or may not play Tort’s game. See Frolov, Zherdev, Kotalik, Higgins, Lisin, and even (at times) Wolski and Avery. There’s a reason why Sather is becoming more and more careful who it is when he picks up a vet, to make sure they’ll mesh with Torts or have played for him before. Prospal, Feds, Richards, etc. To bring in a talented winger introduces the great unknown of whether or not they’ll play ball in this system. But youth can be molded into the system, like the BORG.

This team, with the addition of Richards, but more importantly with the added seasoning of Dube, Cally, AA, MZA, Stepan, Prust, will most likely put up 15-20 more goals than last year, which puts them top 5 in the league at around 250 goals. Assuming their D and goaltending stays the same, or might even improve, you are talking about top 5 in GF and top 5 in GA with no additions of a top winger.

Have Faith!!!!

Stay the course with the team we have now.. I love the way the team looks. A couple of players will get the chance to play on the top line, maybe wolski first then dubi, AA or cally. We know Torts will jumble the lines around (especially the power play lines) Someone will step up and produce with Gabby and Richards. I really wouldn’t trade away any of our prospects and I think Kreider will be very good when he leaves college like Stepan was

Their Goals For is a little inflated. The amount of one goal games the rangers played was staggering. and then they would explode for 7 against, say toronto. The offense was a severe problem last season, and BR can’t fix it all by himself.

I agreed with everything except that Boyle will score 20 goals. I just don’t see it happening again.

Joe, dont understand the article to be honest. Elite is all relative, i think a top 6 caliber LW is pretty important to acquire, dont necessarily need a 50 goal guy. And it is possible that it could be acquired for a price similar to the savings on a wolski buyout. Additionally, goal scoring will almost definitely still need help if they want to get it to an elite level, even though at this point i do think our forwards have caught up to and possibly surpassed our D

and everyone saying we need to stay the course, the course doesn’t go on forever. At some point this team needs to become a number one contender for the cup, and guys like Richards Lundqvist and Gaborik arent staying young forever. Do I think the rangers need to make a move right now, or even this season, no. But as this team stands now they aren’t a Stanley cup caliber team. What I think the Rangers will do, is allow the players that need to further develop to do just that. Let Cally and Dubi become 30 goal guys, let Gaborik and Richards mesh, and let the young guys, the McDuns, the Sauers, the Erixons, the Stepans, develop into the players they could potential become. But come next year, come next July, the Rangers need to go all in. They need to add another top 6 guy, and I could potentially see that guy being Parise. He just signed a one year deal with the devils, making him a UFA next year, and the Rangers will have the cap space to do it. With the core signed, Wolski, Avery and Christenson off the books, a smaller Drury cap hit, bringing in Parise is a definite possibility. Imagine the lines:

Parise-Richards-Gaborik
Dubi-AA-Cally
Boyle-Stepan-(insert developed prospect here)
Prust-Rupp-(insert developed prospect here)

That right there is a championship caliber line up. Let the team mesh this year, and then add the final piece next year.