Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Brandon Pirri Officially Signs with Rangers, Trade for D Forthcoming?

August 25, 2016, 1:53 PM ET [450 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Rangers continue to add to their forward depth, inking Brandon Pirri to a one-year, $1.1 million deal. Pirri, otherwise known by many as Cy Young for his 22 goal, two assist stat line in 2013-14, was probably the best unsigned UFA on the market after Jiri Hudler signed a one-year, $2 million deal Monday and Radim Vrbata went back to Arizona last week. The signing of Pirri now gives NY an abundance of forwards and clearly stirs the speculation a deal is forthcoming. His addition reduces the team's available cap space to about $1.4 million, depending on who makes the team.

I wrote this the on August 23 regarding the possible line combinations. It now may be thrown in the trade as the Pirri signing changes it up.

Kreider-Stepan-Nash
Zuccarello-Zibanejad-Miller
Buchnevich-Hayes-Vesey

The second and third line may mix and match. Miller and Vesey have a history from the World Junior Championships, so AV might try and recreate that chemistry. This would then mean Buchnevich moves up a line. However, some friends, whose views I trust and watched the post-draft camp, indicated that Buch has a ton of work to do in his own zone, as he looked totally lost. To pair him with Zucc might be a recipe for disaster defensively and would then likely require Stepan to center that duo. Plus, Buch needs to get a lot stronger.

The fourth line will have some combination of Grabner, Fast, Gerbe, Jooris, Jensen, Hrivik and Lindberg who will miss the first month. Also available are long shots Malte Stromwall and Robin Kovacs, whose coach feels that each have a realistic chance to break camp with the parents club, plus Tanner Glass and Maxim Lapierre, who is in camp on a PTO.

The favorites right now might be Graber-Jooris-Fast with Lindberg out. But seeing the sheer volume of names above bolsters the belief that one or more could and likely will go in a trade. For example, Lindberg might be packaged with a defenseman, maybe Kevin Klein, to upgrade the position. What the 11 names above indicate is that AV and management has options that didn't exist previously. It also means that players will need to procure to retain their roles because a similar and possibly better option will be sitting in Hartford.


With Pirri onboard, a trade seems to be even more likely than before. While depth is good and necessary, too many forwards exist for too few spots. Especially when considering who might need to pass through waivers, for example, Marek Hrivik.

Pirri could play on the second or third line. As I tweeted, his defensive ineptitude, which resulted in his trade from Fla to Ana and probably contributed to lower than expected market interest, makes Derick Brassard look like a Selke candidate. As such, he needs a strong defensive center, which could mean Derek Stepan. Pirri is a natural center man but one who lacks the vision to play the position and is weak between the dots. He is not a physical forward, so he won't fit in a checking role and it's unclear how much he fits as a top-six player, though that's where he might be slotted. Pirri can shoot the heck out of the puck and his passing as a winger is decent, making him a third liner and possible second liner.

If Pavel Buchnevich does need time to acclimate to the US and the NHL, having Pirri gives NY a reason - or excuse, depending on your view - to have him start the year in the AHL. However, as Buch only wanted to come over if he played in the NHL, as well as passed up higher $ from the KHL, so this situation will have to be handled delicately. The same can be said of Vesey, if he proves unready, as he too could land in Hartford for a bit of time till he acclimated to the NHL. It's possible neither are sent down, which will mean Pirri is a healthy scratch or someone else is shifted down, because Pirri is not a fourth line player. What this also does do is put Jesper Fast in the trade cross hairs due to the myriad of fourth line options available. However, as Steve Zipay pointed out, Fast is one of the Rangers' right-handed shooting forwards and we know how much AV loves lefty-righty balance plus he is one of their better defensive forwards.

New York has a major need on the blue line. Maybe this revives or drives the kickstart of the Kevin Shattenkirk talks/rumors. It's possible that the Rangers try and acquire Hampus Lindholm, we should be so lucky, from Anaheim. The Ducks need another forward and NY could package Nash with someone like Kevin Klein, but that's the Rangers fan in me talking. Lindholm will be a beast in future and the Ducks could have the pick of the litter for him, which makes a deal like this unlikely. Chris Tanev also would be a nice addition and would be cheaper than the other two d-men. Plus there are others that I missed noting who would upgrade the blue line and could come for someone currently on he roster.

GM Jeff Gorton has given the team depth from which to deal. Now let's see if he uses it.
Join the Discussion: » 450 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Jan Levine
» Rangers find way to notch 3-2 shootout win over Avalanche
» Rangers face Avalanche as Ryan Lindgren returns to the lineup
» Rangers clinch playoff berth with barn burner 6-5 OT win over the Flyers
» Rangers face Flyers with chance to clinch playoff berth
» Rangers rally twice to defeat Panthers 4-3 in a shootout