MTPS: Could Jeff Gorton Trade for Braden Schneider a Second Time?

Picture it: NHL Draft night 2020. The draft is, for the first time in a long time, decentralized due to COVID. News breaks, and the New York Rangers have made a trade.

The Rangers send the 22nd and 72nd picks to the Calgary Flames for the 19th overall pick, and with it they take defenseman Braden Schneider.

The lasting image I have from that night is a video from inside the Rangers draft war room where John Davidson is shushing everyone (as if the ambient noise would prevent the pick from going through) and Jeff Gorton fist pumping as if he pulled of a minor miracle. Needless to say, the front office was happy. Alas, it turns out that it was yet another move that front office made that thought was good that was much less in reality.

I've been told Jeff Gorton is a good executive. And, sure, maybe he is now. But he wasn't with the Rangers and this was yet another bad draft pick from a guy who made a host of bad draft picks (tell me again why Chris Drury was wrong to fire Gordie Clarke, Nick Bobrov, and Chris Morehouse). Anyway, with Egor Chinakov, JJ Peterka, Mavrik Bourque, Ridley Greig, and Jake Neighbors on the board, the Rangers jumped up and took Braden Schneider to add him to an organization that had Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, Tony DeAngelo, and Nils Lundqvist at the position already. Sure.

Here we are six years later, and Schneider is a restricted free agent whose future with the organization is very much in doubt. Which brings us to:

Well, how do you do, Mr. Magoo?

It just so happens that the New York Rangers are a team that has a right-shot D (and a center, but that's a different column) who could be available this summer.

Now, listen, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "but Chip, what about this quote from Rangers general manager Chris Drury when he was asked about Braden Schneider?"

“He’s a terrific young right-shot defenseman, (and) we’re excited he’s part of our group,” Drury stated. “We think he’s scratching the surface on what he can be in this league, and hope he’s a Ranger for a long time.”

Yeah, so here's the thing about that: It's irrelevant.

First of all, what else would he say there? "Eh, he's been kind of a disappointment in his time here, he's up for a new contract, and we'll see what happens," is a more honest take, but not one you're going to hear a GM ever put out into the universe.

Second, the Rangers have been speaking highly of Schneider for years now and their actions almost never align with their words. They called him a "young Jacob Trouba" and then when they traded the actual Jacob Trouba and had an opportunity to move Schneider from sheltered third pair minutes to a second pair role. And then they traded for and extended Will Borgen. Head coach Mike Sullivan called Schneider one of the top four defensemen on the team and then, when given the opportunity to move Schneider into a top four role by either flipping him and Borgen or moving Schneider to the left side to pair with Borgen, he played him on the third pairing behind Carson Soucy and eventually Matthew Robertson.

So, no, it would not surprise me at all for the Rangers to talk about how much they're hoping that Schneider remains a Ranger for a long time and then trade him. The question, as always, is what would a return for the enigmatic defenseman look like?

Montreal is a team brimming with young talent. That much was clearly on display throughout these playoffs. So, how much of it would they be willing to part with to get a player, in Schneider, who has some draft pedigree, fills a need, and has his fans within their organization?