7 Thoughts from 7 Days: Preparing for the expansion draft

For a couple months, I’ve been piggybacking off Elliotte Friedman and our own Brandon Cohen on this weekly thought post. While I’d usually do these ad-hoc, I liked the idea of consistency and a common theme. The Rangers made a few moves last week, but it wasn’t much. So let’s mash these thoughts together and do an old fashioned musings as the Rangers prepare for the expansion draft.

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1. I am not surprised that the Rangers found their first pair of assistant coaches before the expansion draft. Mike Kelly has followed Gerard Gallant around the league, and Gord Murphy clearly made a good impression on Chris Drury when he was on the bench this season. While it likely wasn’t a huge need before the expansion draft, I think it does at least play into some roster decisions. Murphy was around the team and might have some insight into what he saw when he was behind the bench. That might help guide Gallant and Drury when making roster decisions. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch.

2. Re-signing Brett Howden was inevitable. I’m actually pleasantly surprised that there wasn’t outrage to it, given what the majority of the fan base thinks of his play. Assuming he is still with the Rangers next season, and the smart money is on him staying, then I am intrigued to see what Gallant does with him. Much of that will be decided by Drury and what he does to address the bottom half of the roster after the expansion draft. I do wonder if he has some trade value to teams that view his ice time –productive or not– as an indication that he’s good. There’s a lot of old school GMs who view ice time as one of the most important stats, even if deeply flawed.

3. When Ryan Suter was bought out, he was immediately mentioned as an interesting target for the Rangers. He’s a veteran a veteran LD with a good reputation. However he will not come cheap, likely at $5 million, per EvolvingWild / Evolving Hockey. That comes with a disclaimer that the offseason has been weird because of the flat cap and COVID creating real financial issues for some owners. I can’t imagine the Rangers attaching term to Suter, who is already 36 years old. He’s also mostly offense and little defense, which doesn’t necessarily fit the need the Rangers have on the ice. This doesn’t pass the sniff test.

4. On that third defense protection spot the Rangers have, there are some options for the Rangers by not buying out Tony DeAngelo yet. The Blueshirts need to expose at least one defenseman under contract, and if they buyout DeAngelo before hand then they must expose Anthony Bitetto. That defaults to Libor Hajek being protected. Since it’s unlikely DeAngelo gets traded, then there might be some throw-in value to Bitetto (or Hajek, but that’s not relevant here) in a pre-expansion draft deal, thus exposing DeAngelo would fulfill the requirement. It’s incredibly unlikely, but it’s still an option. This is very similar to how re-signing Howden opened up options and the potential to protect Colin Blackwell.

5. I am anxiously waiting to see what the Rangers do with Alex Georgiev. As mentioned the other day, it seems all but certain that Georgiev will be traded at some point. If it happens this offseason, it likely won’t be until after the expansion draft. Given how Keith Kinkaid played last season, he might be a viable backup for a season. Or the Rangers can just find someone who is cheaper and has the same numbers, since they do exist. I am of the belief that if Georgiev is traded, it will be at the draft in a big deal. It could be as a throw-in for Jack Eichel, or perhaps elsewhere if Eichel falls through.

6. The Rangers will have $4.45 million in dead cap space this coming season once DeAngelo is bought out. I bring this up only because it got me thinking about Brad Richards. People poke fun of the Mets for Bobby Bonilla and the Isles for Rick DiPietro, but the Rangers have their own long term payout in Richards. The Rangers will be paying Richards $1.05 million a season for the next five years, and have for the previous four. He was paid $11 million in his buyout from 2014-2016 as well. That’s $20 million in buyout money, plus the $31 million he got in his three years with the Rangers. All in all, the Rangers will have paid Richards $53 million of his $60 million contract, just over a much longer period of time. It doesn’t matter to the Rangers since it’s “just money” and there’s no cap hit implications. It’s just interesting to me. Must be nice to shell out $1 million a year to *not* play hockey and not even bat an eye.

7. A conversation in the BSB chat that I thought would be illuminating. Both Parise and Suter were blindsided by their buyouts in Minnesota. This seems to be the norm in sports, as players are rarely told they are going to be traded or moved. It’s the nature of the business. It does, however, make you appreciate how well the Rangers handled this past season with Henrik Lundqvist. Hank was with the organization in every decision regarding his career. The Rangers, in no way shape or form, “did Hank dirty” as many in the fan base thought. This was not the impression we had here, and it makes you appreciate how the situation was handled in New York. It is extremely rare to have both player and organization involved in such a difficult decision.