Why the Rangers should trade from their youth

The New York Rangers are embarking on their second iteration of a letter-inspired retool–let’s be honest, rebuild is more apt–and much like the last time, veterans on expiring contracts or valuable contracts must beware. The Rangers–Chris Drury–made it very clear in the letter that the goal is not to tear apart the team. The logical assumption is that the majority of players under the age of, say, 27, will remain on the roster past the trade deadline, but I argue that everyone should be on the table, and both Braden Schneider and Will Cuylle should be traded.

Yes you read that right. Braden Schneider and Will Cuylle should be traded.

That may be shocking to read, considering the Rangers are going about this whole retool in part to improve the youth on this team, but there’s good reason to trade both.

Starting with Cuylle, the simple fact is that he is a third-line forward at best. Cuylle burst onto the scene in his sophomore season, scoring 20 goals and 25 assists in a full season. The thought was he would follow that up with new highs, but instead Cuylle is on pace to just match or finish with worse stats than last season.

One could argue that Cuylle is simply suffering from a down year, but the reality is, he just simply isn’t that great. Cuylle was never projected to be a major prospect, never showed any particularly impressive stats in his career, and when looked at in the context of his career thus far, there’s little to no reason to believe it’ll get any better from here. 

Let’s say Cuylle even becomes a regular 50 point scorer. That’s a good, fine third liner. In a few years when the Rangers expect to compete again, he will be due for a significant contract. Is a decent third-liner who you want the Rangers giving that contract to? I think not.

Meanwhile, his value in a trade is much higher. A young, cost-controlled third-liner for the playoff hunt? Some grit? Some body-checking? What team wouldn’t sign up for that? Cuylle’s value is far higher to the Rangers as a trade asset than it will ever be as a player.

As for Braden Schneider, the logic is pretty similar. Schneider has proven to be a fine defenseman. He won’t wow you, he won’t lose you any games. He is due a big extension this offseason, and I don’t believe the Rangers are the team that should give him said extension. Again, the Rangers can utilize him being a young, cheap defenseman for the playoff run and bring back a boatload.

For this retool to work, the Rangers must be creative. Trading Artemi Panarin and Carson Soucy alone will not get the Rangers enough assets to make the moves the team needs to make to make a legitimate change to the organization. The Rangers will have to make some difficult decisions, and those decisions should start with Cuylle and Schneider. It’s time to stop letting good be the enemy of great. For a quick turnaround, both Braden Schneider and Will Cuylle should be traded.