Should The New York Rangers Look Into Zach Boychuk?
The Carolina Hurricanes took a risk by putting the former first-round pick on the waiver wire, should the Rangers make them pay?
If the Ryan Callahan injury news did anything (aside from pulling millions of New York Rangers fans off the cliff) it proved that the Rangers have issues with their lack of depth.
The Rangers tried to solve that problem with Jason Arnott. That idea crashed and burned when Arnott failed his physical -- and the Rangers took his contract off the table as a result. Since then, Glen Sather has admitted to the Rangers looking for depth.
The Carolina Hurricanes might have provided the Rangers with a solution. Wednesday afternoon the Hurricanes put former first-round pick Zach Boychuk on waivers, giving every team in the NHL a chance at putting in a claim for him. Boychuk is young (he's only 23) and has been remarkably productive in the AHL -- although his NHL production isn't fantastic (18 points in 77 games).
But the Rangers aren't exactly in a position to be picky. And Boychuk represents a perfect low-risk high-reward type of move. If the Rangers win the claim (more on that in a minute) then they got him for free, and can see how he fits in a third-line role. And since he's young (and obviously has potential) there's an opportunity for the Rangers to find a really productive player.
If he doesn't work out, the Rangers can either waive him or try to trade him. Either way it's a no-lose situation for New York.
Now the catch, assuming the Rangers are interested, getting Boychuk might prove to be an issue. There are teams out there who have a more dominant claim than the Rangers. I don't know all the teams, specifically, but if their claim is before the Rangers and they claim Boychuk, well, they get Boychuk.
Personally, I think the reward outweighs the risk so heavily that I would have put a claim in for him without skipping a beat. Sometimes all a guy like Boychuk needs is a change of scenery. Maybe New York is just what the doctor ordered?
What do you guys think, though? Would you make a move for him?