Before the draft lottery, before the San Jose Sharks moved up from 9th overall to 2nd overall, we theorized a fun potential trade down scenario where the Rangers send the 5th overall and Braden Schneider to San Jose for William Eklund and the 9th overall. Now things have flipped and we could be looking at the Rangers trading up with the Sharks. Though unlikely, there’s a potential match that meets team needs from both New York and San Jose. But the Rangers trading up with the Sharks is tricky.
Unlike with trading down, the Rangers are going to have to add a significant piece to move up and entice San Jose to move down. San Jose needs defense, and the Rangers have a few options that could be enticing to Mike Grier as he tries to address that issue and other roster holes, like depth forwards. So the Rangers trading up with the Sharks is going to result in just the second overall coming back.
Reminder: These are frameworks. I’m sure some minor pieces need to be added/removed to match proper value.
Option 1: Rangers trade Braden Schneider and the 5th overall for the 2nd overall and Vegas’ 4th round pick
The first option for the Rangers trading up with the Sharks is pretty straight forward, with the Rangers sending Braden Schneider and the 5th overall in exchange for the 2nd overall and a mild sweetener to balance value. The Rangers need elite potential scoring, and Ivar Stenberg would be that guy. The Rangers could use the Stars’ pick to draft a center in the back half of the first round.
For San Jose, they’d take a calculated gamble that Chase Reid or Carson Carels slip to 5th overall, which is certainly plausible. Assuming the Rangers take Stenberg, then Vancouver would likely take Caleb Malhotra, leaving Chicago to take one of Reid, Carels, or–which wouldn’t surprise anyone–Keaton Verhoeff. In theory, the Sharks would prefer Carels to balance LD vs RD, but it’s hard to pass on Reid if he’s there.
Option 2: Rangers trade the 5th overall, ~27th overall, and a 3rd round pick for the 2nd overall
If the Rangers don’t want to use Schneider to move up to 2nd overall, then they can always leverage their other first round pick and one of their four third round picks. The Rangers trading up with the Sharks would likely need to include a roster player and Schneider is the obvious pick, but if Grier wants to be a little creative and then flip the extra pick(s), then accumulating assets would be the goal.
In this case, San Jose would wind up with the 20th and 27th picks. They can easily use those to address current roster needs, trade up again, or just use the picks to keep the prospect pipeline flowing.
Option 3: Rangers trade 5th overall, Braden Schneider, Brett Berard, 2027 1st for 2nd overall, William Eklund
We have the potential to get a little wild with the Rangers trading up with the Sharks. To be fair, option 3 is completely out there and I’m not even sure I have the value right. But there’s certainly a way for the Rangers to get both Eklund and the 2nd overall, but they’d really have to give to get in this situation.
Since option 1 had Schneider and the 5th for the 2nd and a sweetener, the big question here is about Eklund’s trade value. Does the Rangers 2027 1st, Berard, and removing the 4th round pick equal Eklund’s value? In a vacuum, probably not, but this isn’t a vacuum.
The bigger picture for San Jose is again getting Schneider, one of Reid/Carels, and now Berard plus another 1st rounder next draft in a more forward heavy first round. The big question is whether they think Colin Graf can step into Eklund’s role as 2LW, and/or whether they think Alex Tuch could be enticed to come to San Jose. In theory, they could run Chernyshov-Celebrini-Smith, Tuch/Graf-Misa-Sherwood, Berard-Wennberg-Kurashev/Gaudette while adding Schneider and Reid/Carels to the blue line.
Both teams would be taking a gamble on the Rangers successes next season. The Rangers trading up with the Sharks in this scenario is banking on Eklund and Stenberg to flank JT Miller and create another dangerous scoring line. This would give the Rangers legitimate scoring depth in their top six, a dangerous third line of Will Cuylle-Noah Laba-Tye Kartye, and a pick ’em for their fourth line.
Vincent Trocheck could then be used to address other blue line needs.
Option 4: Adam Fox and Brett Berard for William Eklund and the 2nd overall pick
Could you imagine?
I’m not saying I want this to happen, but the chaos might be worth it. But I enjoy carnage.
The Rangers trading up with the Sharks could be a lot of fun
The Rangers trading up with the Sharks could be a lot of fun. I’m biased, but I love option 3 because it’s maximum crazy and still, in theory, somewhat plausible. However the NHL is filled with vanilla GMs who don’t like to make crazy trades. The value on the options listed above probably needs tinkering, and there’s enough wiggle room to make one of these options happen.
It’s exceedingly rare for teams to move in and out of the top five, so again none of these are likely to happen. Still, it’s fun to talk about.
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