There are precious few quality defensemen that become available in the National Hockey League. It’s why defensemen like James Wisniewski, Ben Lovejoy(!), Marek Zidlicky and Braydon Coburn all fetched far more than any of them should have done at the trade deadline. Most of them still have their uses for sure, but the prices that they were moved for were certainly inflated in each case. This all brings us to Rangers defenseman and the owner of one well discussed, long term and onerous contract, Dan Girardi.
It’s highly unlikely that Girardi gets moved any time soon. This is because Girardi has been incredibly loyal, is well respected inside the organisation and is an absolute iron man. He logs big minutes, he’s a low maintenance kind of guy and he’s a leader. That said, Girardi is regressing; he’s a possession disaster and his (average) skating and puck moving ability don’t really fit well with Alain Vigneault’s system now, let alone as he ages. However, the market for defensemen has never been weaker – get your supply and demand caps on – which means moving Girardi is something the Rangers must consider. This summer the Rangers should be able to find a taker for Girardi as teams are increasingly desperate for defensive help.
Assuming Girardi can be convinced into waiving his no trade clause (certainly no guarantee) there should be a market for him even with a cap hit of $5.5m per year and with four years left on the deal. With the last two years of his deal being less actual salary than cap hit ($5m and 4m respectively) Girardi’s deal looks more appealing to a lot of teams. With teams being able to take on more cap in the summer it’s also the best time to explore a trade from a timing perspective especially if the Rangers target desperate teams who miss out on the already weak free agency class – not that there’s much to ‘miss out’ on.
The motivations to move Girardi are obvious. Ridding themselves of Girardi’s contract would allow the team to keep both Carl Hagelin and Marty St Louis (should they choose to do so) and would also mean much less money being committed to one position – the defense. Looking a little further ahead, moving Girardi would help in retaining Keith Yandle one summer later; assuming his play warrants. Meanwhile the team can certainly use the extra dollars if the Canadian dollar continues to negatively impact the cap ceiling.
In ideal circumstances, the Rangers will be basking in the glory of a Stanley Cup this summer which would probably make it easier to move on from Girardi while probably easier to find a taker (everyone loves a Cup winner). Providing the team is actually willing to move Girardi and are willing to receive little in return, a Girardi trade should be achievable. Girardi doesn’t need to hide from the likes of Braydon Coburn and the former Flyer fetched quite the haul from Tampa. Will Girardi fetch as much? Probably not, but for his departure to help the Rangers he doesn’t need to.
In terms of what teams Girardi would consider waiving his NTC to move to, that may be influenced by how the Rangers season finishes but perhaps he’d consider going to a club like Toronto who need a leader for their porous defense (especially with Dion Phaneuf likely departing in the summer). As an Ontario native a return north of the border may be a realistic option for Girardi. Toronto have been rumoured to be willing to take on other teams ‘bad’ contracts so it’s certainly an option worth exploring.
Girardi isn’t as bad as some people seem to suggest even though he’ll clearly never be a fancystat darling. He chips in offensively (on course for his seventh season of 20+ points from a career spanning nine seasons) and goes up against the top lines from each team and holds his own. That said, it’s already clear that Girardi’s deal will turn ugly toward the end of the contract and his presence is already causing cap headaches. Projecting a remaining core of Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal, Kevin Klein and Keith Yandle the team is more than able to move on from Girardi and ice a strong defensive unit. If Brady Skjei or another prospect steps up in the short term, then all the better.
Girardi has always been held in very high regard by the organisation so all the moaning from the fanbase about his contract (and his skill set) likely falls on deaf ears and a trade remains unlikely. Despite this, Glen Sather has proved he’ll trade established, core Rangers (hello Callahan, Ryan) if he believes it will help him improve the roster and moving Girardi makes sense for so many reasons. The time to move Girardi will never be greater than this summer regardless how the Rangers finish their season.
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