Sather will be honoured by the Oilers in December. Rightly so.

The Rangers, barring more trade robbery from Glen Sather, should stay quiet as the NHL trade deadline approaches. Several rumours are beginning to circulate around the Rangers and usually there’s no smoke without fire. Indeed, a lot of these rumours come from good sources (McKenzie, Dreger etc) but despite the rumours this Rangers team is well placed to compete for the Cup as currently constructed.

There needs to be a careful balance between competing now and long term. The Rangers have stripped themselves of assets in recent seasons with trades for, among others, Rick Nash and Marty St Louis and at some stage the cupboard will need more top end talent. While the Rangers do have a few solid prospects on the cusp (Skjei, Duclair, Buchnevich etc) there’s not a huge amount of prospects en route that are certainties to make the Rangers.

Given what the Rangers have at their disposal to make a trade (not much, unless you think Sather will ship out a core roster part such as Carl Hagelin mid-season), there’s not a huge amount out there that would represent either a massive upgrade or value for money and does anyone want to see another early draft pick sent to a club such as Arizona for four months of Antoine Vermette? Vermette is a good player for sure but surely not the kind of player that will put the Rangers that much closer to the Cup. Don’t think Arizona are going to give away their players either.

The buyers and sellers are more clearly defined this season than recent seasons. TSN recently issued a list of players they considered ‘trade bait’. That list certainly included players that could help the Rangers. Ryan O’Reilly, Keith Yandle, Vermette, Zack Kassian and Zbynek Michalek are all players or player types that could help the Rangers but surely they are all players who’s costs would either be unrealistic or not worth the risk for the Rangers.

The Rangers could do with an addition; they do have flaws such as at center, in the faceoff circle as well as some added depth and/or toughness along the blueline but in the cap era no team is perfect, every team has its warts. The Rangers can win the Cup as currently constructed, whether they do or not is likely to come down to momentum, luck and injuries more than it would a minor addition at the trade deadline.

Sather should certainly explore the market and of course, if there’s a team friendly deal to be made then most fans would advocate it but there is a balance to be had. The Rangers are well placed to be a contender now and for the next couple of years. The key is to continue the way the Rangers have developed and to replicate teams such as the Detroit Red Wings who are more often than not, a player at the most important time of the season.

The Red Wings rarely mortgage the future but build patiently and in a considered approach. Rarely (if ever at all) is the Red Wing’s prospect pool empty. Sather needs to make sure that the Rangers are well set now and in the future, his legacy may depend on it. It appears there’s more than one reason why the Rangers should be quiet come the deadline.

 

 

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