alex radulov

Radulov

the possibility of the Rangers going after Alex Radulov and I thought this one deserved its own post. I want to make clear that I’m not necessarily advocating for the acquisition of Radulov (or the circumstances under which I’d see it as necessary/prudent – more on that later), but instead fleshing out the potential reasons the Rangers might want to sign the talented Russian winger.

Let’s start with a brief synopsis of the level he’s been playing at since leaving the NHL to go play in Russia. This past season for CSKA Moscow he registered 24 goals and 47 assists in 46 games. While he went 9-25-34 in 34 games played the previous season, the one before that he registered 22 goals and 46 assists in 48 games. At age 29 he’s just about right in his prime, if not towards the back end of it, so it’s a reasonable bet that he would be able to put up around 20 goals in a season with the right linemates.

Now for the fun stuff – it’s not a secret that the Rangers are in need of some big changes this offseason, and it’s also not a secret that the Rangers are in a serious cap crunch. While the obvious solution would be to trade both of Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, in addition to either trading Tanner Glass or sending him down to the AHL, some have speculated that Rick Nash may be on the trading block. This is a reasonable assumption – Rick Nash has a huge contract, and if the Rangers really are after the Kevin Shattenkirk as is rumored he’d likely being the asking price.

In the event that the Rangers do trade Rick Nash, for Shattenkirk or for anyone else, Radulov would be a decent replacement up front. While certainly a different style of player, and certainly a downgrade from the caliber of player Nash is, Radulov could help fill in the gap left behind by Rick Nash. It would help with the development of the highly touted Pavel Buchnevich to have another Russian speaker around the locker room, and given that Radulov has already made his fortune in the KHL it might stand to reason that he’d take a team friendly contract.

None of this is to say that I am in favor of trading Nash or acquiring Radulov necessarily. All I’m saying is that in the event that trading Nash is the kind of shakeup the front office has in mind for this team, acquiring Alexander Radulov could help round out the top six in Nash’s absence. What are y’all’s thoughts?

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