Happy Almost-Three-Day-Weekend folks. A lot has gone on in Rangerland over the past few days, so let’s get to the musings.

Did you know that Staal has brothers? (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Their best and most complicated trade chip. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

  • The Rangers have $14.6 million in cap space to fill six forward spots and one defense spot. If you allocate about $12 million to Derick Brassard ($4 million), Mats Zuccarello ($4.5 million) , Chris Kreider ($2 million), and John Moore ($1.5 million), that leaves $2.6 million for three forward spots. That’s not much room to work with, even if you do use kids to fill the remaining roles.
  • The Rangers said that they want to add one more forward, but don’t know if they will sign someone or trade for someone. If they sign a forward, it’s going to have to be another experimental forward, like Benoit Pouliot last summer.
  • Mike Ribeiro is the name that will probably be thrown around a lot, as he was just bought out by Phoenix and could come cheap. I’d venture a guess that he would settle for a Brad Richards deal (one-year, $2 million). That’s as cheap as they come, but Ribiero hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire lately.
  • Aside from Ribeiro, the other UFAs are either too expensive or not intriguing: David Legwand, Derek Roy, Steve Ott, Saku Koivu, Michal Handzus. None of these guys fit (from a cap perspective or from a talent perspective).

  • That makes me think there’s a trade coming. But the problem here, again, is the cap. The Rangers would need to deal some salary in order to bring in a piece, but their only two legitimate trade chips are Marc Staal and Carl Hagelin (to a lesser extent: Derick Brassard).
  • Trading Hagelin is an option, but not a very good option. His cap hit is small, and the Rangers wouldn’t get a smaller cap hit in return.
  • Brassard will likely get a $4 million cap hit, but it’s unlikely the Rangers would be able to trade him for a comparable player with a smaller cap hit.
  • Smart GMs don’t make trades that open up other holes in the roster. Trading Staal for a forward opens up a hole on the second pairing that John Moore can’t fill. If you’re expecting a kid to fill that role, you’re grasping at straws.
  • More on trading Staal: It’s feasible you can trade him for a young F and young D. Dallas needs some help on defense. Perhaps a deal can be swung centered around Staal? Antoine RousselĀ and Trevor Daley?
  • Minnesota needs D help too, but the conversation would likely begin and end with Charlie Coyle. Plus, Minny doesn’t have the tools to send two players for Staal, opening up the hole we spoke about earlier.
  • There are actually very few trading partners that make sense for the Rangers and Staal. And don’t give me that “no one is trading for him because he’s bolting to Carolina to play with his brother” crap. That’s media driven drivel. This isn’t the NBA, players don’t plot to play with each other. They either want the paycheck or they want the Cup.
  • Question time:
    • Do you think the Rangers got better or worse after July 1?
    • How would you fill out the rest of the roster?
    • Which kids do you think make the team out of camp?

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