The Rangers Should Consider Zherdev

Now that Marian Gaborik is likely to miss significant time with a concussion, the Rangers need to weigh their options for a top six winger to replace him. However, options are limited and prices are steep. Kris Versteeg, a second line winger at best, fetched a first and a third round pick from the Philadelphia Flyers. There are few ideal options on the market for the Rangers. Largely because they are going to need to balance their future when making a deal. They need help, but they can't afford to commit significant resources to a trade deadline acquisition.

Glen Sather will need to get creative.

Now that the Flyers have acquired Versteeg, Nikolai Zherdev has been a perpetual healthy scratch. We all know the story with Zherdev. Super talent, little to no consistency. But in limited ice time this year he has notched 15 goals and for all we now, he'll be so happy to be getting ice time that he'll manage to be an effective player down the stretch in the short time that he's needed.

The key to Zherdev is price. He is by no means an ideal option but with little use to the Flyers, he likely could be had at a nice discount. The Rangers and Flyers rarely, if ever do business. But it is certainly worth kicking the tires on him. Zherdev has proven to be an effective player at times in the past. The hope would be that the Rangers could catch lightning in a bottle.

One man's trash is another man's treasure.