Media Bytes: Schneider, Free Agent Targets, Larkin, Trocheck
From Schneider trade scenarios to a Zuccarello reunion fantasy, we cover the Rangers' free agency and trade landscape.
Welcome back to Media Bytes, a weekly column from Blueshirt Banter. Every Sunday, we’ll help you start the week right with a quick catch-up on the latest stories and developments around the New York Rangers and the broader NHL media landscape.
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Bye Bye, Braden?
1. Earlier this week, Rangers Recon took another deep dive into what the Rangers could do this summer to push their retool forward. The conversation covered a wide range of possibilities, from trades to free agent additions.
Right away, Andrew Chelney and Arthur Staple addressed the latest on Vincent Trocheck and Braden Schneider, with Staple making the stronger case for moving Schneider.
"If it's true that they're cooling on [trading Trocheck], I would hope they're higher on trading Braden Schneider," Staple said. "That's a guy I think you can get a lot back for. He was drafted highly enough and recently enough that there are still teams interested in him, even if a lot of front offices and scouting staffs have changed since then."
In Staple's view, a package built around Schneider and the Hurricanes’ first-round pick acquired in the K'Andre Miller trade could be the framework for landing the type of return New York is targeting.
"Ideally, if your top pair is Gavrikov–Fox and, in a perfect world, your third pair is Robertson–Borgen, you don't want to start the season without a second pair," he continued. "But if you trade Schneider for someone to plug in there and sign one of the few free agents available to fill the left side, suddenly you've got something."
Staple continued pressing the idea that moving Schneider is central to reshaping—and balancing—a defense corps he believes needs significant work.
"With the forward group they have, if you keep Vincent Trocheck, I think you can make the playoffs and win a round," he concluded.
