In case you missed it, and given the long weekend it’s certainly possible, the NY Rangers made another trade deadline move with the Tyler Motte trade. This is his second trade to the Rangers in as many deadlines, and it cost the Rangers Julien Gauthier and a conditional 7th round pick that becomes a 6th should the Rangers win a round in the playoffs. It’s Drury’s second big deadline trade thus far, and there’s still a little less than a month to go. As per usual, I have some thoughts.
1. First and foremost, the cost in the Tyler Motte trade was negligible. Gauthier, as nice as was ac omplementary player, no longer had a spot on the Rangers. He wasn’t going to be in a top-nine role, and he simply wasn’t good enough defensively to be a part of a shutdown line. Motte is a defensive upgrade at the cost of offense, which is fine again when you look at the role the line is expected to play. He was a nice stopgap for the time being. The 6th/7th rounder is inconsequential.
2. Motte will slide right into the lineup as the 4LW, shifting Barclay Goodrow to 4RW for now. Jake Leschyshyn will remain the 4C for the time being, but that is clearly the next domino to fall. There’s a lot of talk about how the Rangers love him and he’s going to be in the lineup, but I don’t buy that panic. Leschyshyn was given a long leash, longer than any of the kids, which is mildly frustrating, but he’s not the answer in the playoffs. I’d expect another deal before the deadline comes and goes.
3. Even with Leschyshyn, the Tyler Motte trade makes the fourth line much stronger defensively.
The goal for the fourth line is to be a shutdown line that goes out against the opposition’s top competition and limits their ability to generate high quality chances. Motte did that last season with the Rangers, and he will continue to be leaned upon to do that this season. Goodrow will likely stay on the fourth line, with whomever is the 4C hopefully winning a few faceoffs.
4. Another thing the Tyler Motte trade accomplishes is truly assigning a role to that fourth line. We had a feeling a 4C was on the radar, but it didn’t necessarily address what role that line would have. Gauthier wasn’t a shutdown player, and neither is Kravtsov. We know Leschyshyn isn’t a viable 4C in the playoffs, and Goodrow has been used all over the lineup the last two years. Motte solidifies what we thought the strategy would be, which is a shutdown line.
5. I don’t think the Tyler Motte trade impacts the Kravtsov situation that much. He’s still unlikely to be moved for a rental, so if he’s moved at the deadline it will be for a 4C with term. Sam Lafferty is a name that’s been discussed a lot since Suit mentioned him as a target earlier this week. He’s a 52% faceoff guy this year and he’s a strong defensive center on a bad team. He also has another year at barely over $1 million, making him an affordable 4C for next season as well. The pieces fit.
6. Even with the Tyler Motte trade and convincing myself that Lafferty for Kravtsov is going to happen, there’s still the elephant in the room that is Gerard Gallant. Gallant’s greatest strength is knowing his room and his players and knowing which buttons to push. However his greatest weakness is his stubbornness. There is no point in having line roles if you don’t match them up accordingly and adjust to what better coaches are doing. Case in point: Jon Cooper attaching Anthony Cirelli to Mika Zibanejad last year in the Eastern Conference Final.
Roles are only roles if they are used properly. Otherwise it’s just lip service.
7. Credit to Chris Drury. He had a very rough start to his tenure as General Manager. But he’s nailed two deadlines so far and appears to be learning on the job. Contracts/free agents still appear to be a weakness, but that may be more of a Ryan Martin thing than a Drury thing.
Charts from Evolving-Hockey.
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