Rangers Ship Longtime Ranger Marc Staal & A 2021 Second To Detroit
What a trade. WHAT a trade. With a slew of RFA's to potentially sign, along with their holes at center and left defense, the Blueshirts find a struggling franchise looking to acquire future-building assets in exchange for being a haven for seemingly unmovable contracts. Marc Staal has one year left at $5.7M but has apparently waived his no-move to find a home other than the only one he's ever known. A 2021 second-round pick is well worth the impact this has, not only on the Rangers salary cap, but their depth chart. Gorton's wallet just jumped from $14M & change to $20M. Huge.
Staal has been a punching bag for Rangers fans as the speed of the game passed him by real quick, but let's pay some respect. All 13 years certainly haven't been as rough. Right around until he inked his pay day in 2015, Marc was excellent. Never a danger with the puck but always an underappreciated defensive presence during the Blueshirts peak. No speed demon either but in his prime it was a different, slower game. A slew of injuries did him no favors (concussion in 2011 thanks to his own flesh and blood, retina tear/broken orbital bone in 2013 & a final upper body blow in 2016) but, especially in a market like NY, when your bank account and contributions on the ice go in opposite directions it's easy to forget the former 12th overall pick was a very good Ranger longer than he wasn't.
What's next for Staal? Who knows. Maybe Detroit buys him out? It's a little surprising he OK'd a trade to a squad that's headed for another miserable season - but if he's about to become a UFA, he'll certainly find a home on a solid squad for peanuts. More importantly though, what's next for the Rangers?
Well, if they wanna bring all their guys back they certainly can now. $20M should cover DeAngelo, Strome, Lemieux, Georgiev and even Jesper Fast if they want. They can also dabble in some lower-tier free agents - and you'd think they'll be heavily in play now for a reliable, lockdown lefty to pair with Jacob Trouba until their kids are ready. And let's not forget, although it's been reported it's not gonna happen this buyout window, a new one opens after the Rangers last arbitration case is settled and it's still highly likely NY banks another $3M with a Lundqvist buyout. Make no mistake, Gorton recognizes his young squad is real close to contention and he'll be on the hunt for immediate, if only short term, help to get back to the postseason along with burdening the responsibility of bringing their young guns along. More bankroll obviously makes that easier.
Assuming the Blueshirts bring someone from the outside in to skate with Trouba, there's still an unquestioned left-side gig on the third pair ready for someone to snag. Can Hajek finally prove he's a pro? Will Miller run away with the job after impressing his squad during this summer's training camp? Maybe Zac Jones inks & leapfrogs the depth chart to form a dangerous (albeit undersized) puck-moving duo with DeAngelo (assuming he stays). Rykov? Robertson? Lotta options. Whoever it is, it's exciting to know now that with #18 gone we're likely to get an unexpectedly early glimpse into a promising future on the back end.
Good luck to Marc Staal. It's hard to believe he's only 33 but he's racked up a LOT of combined regular season and playoff tilts that makes it seem he shares a birthday with Chara. Hopefully he's got a little left in the tank to finish his career respectably - but with the Rangers youth movement in full swing, it won't be at MSG.