Did the Rangers do enough at the trade deadline?

It’s been about a week since the trade deadline, and the Rangers were the most active team. They added four players to their roster, and addressed many roster holes. But there are still doubters. Did the Rangers do enough at the trade deadline? If so, how will it impact them? If not, what else did they need to do?

Rangers filled roster holes

The Rangers had two major issues heading into last week. The first was the bottom pair on defense, which they addressed by adding Justin Braun. Braun isn’t a sexy name, but he’s steady in his own end, and put up surprisingly good defensive numbers considering the Flyers are a tire fire. The Rangers will be able to rotate between Braun, Patrik Nemeth (who has been better of late following his Covid fog), and Braden Schneider. Expect some kind of rotation between the trio, possibly even into the playoffs.

The second hole was actually multiple holes. The Rangers needed help at forward, and boy did Chris Drury deliver. Without subtracting from the roster, Drury added Andrew Copp as the “big fish,” along with Frank Vatrano and Tyler Motte. Copp and Vatrano fix the middle six, and Motte helps address fourth line issues.

More importantly, this quartet of adds put space between injuries and AHL tweeners and NHL 4th liners. Greg McKegg, Libor Hajek are the two that come to mind immediately. However Ryan Reaves, whom we love here, has been struggling mightily and is now in a rotation. As is the doing-everything-but-score Julien Gauthier. When the Rangers get healthy, Dryden Hunt and Jonny Brodzinski will enter that rotation too.

They didn’t add a star

The big argument is that the Rangers didn’t add a star, but how much of that is on the Rangers? Claude Giroux is rumored to have rejected a trade to the Rangers, and he was the only true star that got moved. JT Miller, Tomas Hertl, and Joe Pavelski were taken off the market. Artturi Lehkonen isn’t really a star. This doesn’t seem to be a lack of effort, more like a lack of availability.

But did the Rangers truly need a star? They have Artemiy Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Chris Kreider up front. All three are either over a point per game or on pace for 50+ goals. While any team can benefit from adding a Giroux, it would have been a luxury for the Rangers, not a need. Unlike past deadlines, the Rangers had the up front talent, and just needed the depth.

They had the cap space and the apparent motivation, but if there’s nothing available, what else can you do? Did the Rangers do enough without a star? Does it even matter, given their roster?

Did the Rangers do enough?

The biggest asset the Rangers gave up was a conditional 1st round pick if the Rangers win two playoff rounds. They are a little short on middle round draft picks for the next two years, but that’s just missing out on a bunch of dart throws.

By adding four pieces, the Rangers went all in on this year to the best of their ability. They addressed roster depth, and now have the scoring and speed to skate with Carolina, Tampa, and the other top teams in a seven game series. Add in Igor Shesterkin, and the Rangers can win any series against any opponent.

The deadline couldn’t have gone better for the Rangers, all things considered. Now it’s up to the players to step up, and Gerard Gallant to outcoach the opposition.