Former All Star Alfredsson would be a nice fit in NY - depending on cost

Former All Star Alfredsson would be a nice fit in NY – depending on cost

The Rangers need to get more offense and Chris Kreider needs serious minutes; not just as an injury fill-in. Those two issues, the inconsistent play of J.T. Miller, and the underwhelming performances of  Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik are why the Rangers may want to consider speaking to Ottawa about veteran winger Daniel Alfredsson. After all, we all know the Rangers like a Swedish element to their team.

Alfredsson isn’t the same player he was but is still an effective complimentary player, has an expiring contract, and with Ottawa beset with injury – should the Rangers be able to mount some consistency toward a Cup run – there seem many reasons why Alfredsson makes sense for the Rangers. This of course is assuming the Sens will be sellers at the deadline, which may not be the case.

He doesn’t need to worry about tarnishing his career with Ottawa. This could be a pure rental and he could go back to Ottawa and finish his career there next year. Alfredsson, as the Senators greatest player, will get to decide his fate. He may want a cup run and with New York he could have one. With Karlsson and Spezza off-ice long term the Senators captain knows there’s little to no chance a cup run is happening in the Canadian capital.

At this stage this is pure speculation. Even as TSN considers the merit of him leaving Ottawa, and teams such as Boston rumoured to being heavily interested. That said, with an expiring contract the Rangers would not be stretching themselves cap wise beyond this year, and if they can add ‘Alfie’ then they’d truly have some depth up front. Last year the old Swede had 59 points, and is just two years removed from a 71 point campaign. He still has plenty of game.

What would he cost? Cost could be prohibitive as the Rangers don’t own their first round pick this year (a year which is incredibly deep in talent by recent reports) but he may not cost that. Would a couple of prospects and a second round pick get the Ottawa captain? Maybe, maybe not.

But what can a club demand for an aging veteran with an expiring contract? Would you (or Sather, more appropriately) be willing to also move next year’s first round pick if it meant adding Alfredsson? Is this Rangers team squarely in win now mode? Plenty of questions to be answered.

Adding Alfredsson –assuming Miller and Kreider are exempt from trade discussions– allows the two rookies to be slotted in (or demoted) to play more appropriate roles, and better/more significant minutes. Kreider really looks lacking in confidence so less media scrutiny would serve him well right now. There would be no shame in developing out of the media spotlight for Kreider whatsoever.

The timing seems right for the Rangers to at least investigate a guy like Alfredsson’s availability. If the Sens bottom out it’d make sense for them to add talent for the long term too. A career like Alfredsson’s deserves one last Cup run, the Rangers need more established talent, in the short term, and there’s no doubting he could make a positive difference for a club that is currently stuck in second gear. A player that is close to being a career point-per-game scorer in both the regular season and playoffs would be most welcome in the Rangers dressing room right now.

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