calvin de haan rangers trade deadline predictions

With all the focus on forwards, we sometimes forget that the Rangers have been rumored in the past to be looking to upgrade on defense. There’s certainly a need, as Patrik Nemeth’s future is uncertain, Libor Hajek isn’t the answer, and for some reason Zac Jones isn’t being used at the NHL level. Thus, the Rangers will likely explore the trade market. One potential Rangers trade target is Calvin de Haan, something we spoke about on Live From The Blue Seats.

Calvin de Haan has always been good at two things: Limiting chances against and blocking shots. He’s done both extremely well while chipping in here and there on offense. His 1-3-4 in 43 games with Chicago this year is going to get a laugh, but that’s not why the Rangers would be acquiring de Haan. They have enough offense from their defense.

The Rangers would be acquiring de Haan for those impressive defensive numbers. Even on an awful Chicago team, de Haan is a top defender. Those big red bars may also look bad, but there’s context to be had here. de Haan’s GF/60 is incredibly low, mostly due to the Hawks shooting 4.41% with him on the ice. That’s surely to change with the Rangers, and we might even see some points for de Haan, which is just icing on the cake.

As mentioned basically everywhere, the Rangers don’t need to worry about cap space this deadline, especially for one year rentals like de Haan. Being able to absorb his full $4.55 million salary through the rest of the year is certainly a nice bargaining chip, as other competing teams may not be able to do so.

The trick, as always, is cost. Again the good news is that de Haan isn’t a name that is being broadcast everywhere, thus you can make an educated guess that his cost won’t be as high as someone like Ben Chiarot. Depth defensemen get traded regularly, and here are some of the most recent trades:

  • Madison Bowey and a 5th round pick for a 4th round pick
  • Jordie Benn for a 6th round pick
  • Erik Gudbranson for Brandon Fortunato and a 7th round pick
  • Ben Hutton for a 5th round pick
  • Erik Gustafsson for a 7th round pick
  • Dmitry Kulikov for a 4th round pick

Calvin de Haan falls in this category of defensemen. The Rangers would get a significant upgrade on their third pair for what amounts to, at worst, a 4th round pick. These are the kinds of moves that often go overlooked, but when done right, can mean a whole lot of difference. de Haan would be replacing Nemeth, which is a considerable upgrade.

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