If there’s one thing we know, it’s that Chris Drury is thorough. As he continues his hunt for an upgrade at 2C, two names have hit the rumor mill. Nazem Kadri, he of Stanley Cup winning Colorado Avalanche fame, and Sean Monahan, he of Boring Sean Monahan Twitter fame. Both Monaham and Kadri are on the Rangers radar, but does either pass the sniff test?
Kadri doesn’t fit?
Nazem Kadri’s name hit the radar when Frank Seravalli mentioned the Rangers are very interested on the latest DFO podcast.
"I know that one team that has Nazem Kadri very high up on their list of targets is the #NYR. Ryan Strome, take that money out, pay Nazem Kadri? Starts to make a lot of sense."
— @frank_seravalli on latest episode of DFO Rundown podcast
— Phil Kocher (@PhilKocher) July 1, 2022
Per Evolving Hockey, Kadri is in for a big payday. His two most projected salaries contracts are $8.5 million over 7 years and $7.1 million over 3 years. The Rangers simply don’t have the cap space to make that work without a big trade. I’m sure that Drury has Kadri high on his list, as he plays the style of hockey both Drury and Gerard Gallant like. But the money simply doesn’t work.
In terms of the sniff test, this one doesn’t pass unless the Rangers move a big contract.
Sean Monahan isn’t that good
The other name that popped up was courtesy of Arthur Staple, that Sean Monahan may be on the Rangers radar. The problem with Monahan is the offseason hip surgery, his second, and downright bad play over the last three years. It also doesn’t help that Monahan hasn’t played a full season since 2016-2017 and carries a $6.375 million cap hit to boot.
Monahan would likely come pretty cheap given the surgery, production, and injury history. The Rangers could probably get Calgary to eat half his salary too. But the question is where Monahan would fit and what his role would be. Maybe Artemiy Panarin can jump start him, like he did Ryan Strome. And I’m sure many will be thrilled by a center than wins 50% of his faceoffs, something the Rangers don’t have right now.
But outside of faceoffs, which is not a reason to trade real assets for a player, Monahan is a giant bag of question marks. How are his hips? Will he ever truly recover from two hip surgeries in two years? If you’re looking to make another run, you acquire a sure thing, not a question mark, and not at $3 million with the salary retention.
This one doesn’t pass the sniff test either.
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