GM Jeff Gorton had spoken about making "big moves" and revamping the lineup and roster. As of the evening of July 17, what had transpired to date were smaller moves that while they had improved the depth and filled needed holes up front, certainly fell short of big. I was working on a blog praising Gorton for his patience and for not making a broad move to appease the fanbase when out of the blue came a move that if not big, definitely revamps the lineup.
Monday, the Rangers traded Derick Brassard, the sole remaining player from the Marian Gaborik deal, along with a 2018 seventh rounder to Ottawa for Mika Zibanejad and a 2018 second rounder. That trade, just on the face of it, makes New York younger and faster. In addition, for at least this year, the trade created additional cap room of $2.375 mil, which is the difference between Brassard's $5 mil and Zib's $2.625 mil cap hits.
My initial reactions were whoa and is this really a good deal. Part of my view may have been skewed by my affinity for Brass and his track record in stepping up in key contests and the playoffs, earning him the moniker of Big Game Brass. In addition, Brassard's improvement between the dots last year coupled with him being right in what may be the prime of his career added to my viewpoint right after the trade.
Following that initial reaction, I started to look and read and evaluate the deal more and now clearly see the benefit of the trade. Gorton was able to acquire a bigger, faster and younger first or second line center with tremendous upside and who is solid in shootouts (13-for-28). Zibanejad is 6-foot-2, 222-pound, right-handed shooting center; the latter point key as it also fits the balance AV loves. He scored 21 goals (seven game-winners) and 50 points last year, notching 20 or more good for the second season in a row. Though just 23, he has played five NHL seasons and may be just scratching the surface of what he can become.
What NY also gets in Zibanejad is a center who can play in all three zones, while also seeing time on the PP, and more importantly, the PK. He logged 115:18 of shorthanded ice time last season, third on the Senators among forwards. With Zib and Derek Stepan, the Rangers now have a pair of pivot men who can play in all situations. As Hockey Stat Miner pointed out, Zib avg'd 1:25 PK time & 2:30 PP time /gm. Stepan 1:42 PK, 2:22 PP. in addition, Zib won 50.5% of his draws, which is slightly better than Brassard's 50.2 win percentage last year but more important, there isn't a decline in the change from one center to another.
The seven game winning goals seem to indicate that Zib can step up in key moment. But as we know that a GWG can be scored at any time during the game, that number means little to me. We still have to see how Z steps up against top competition and in big playoff moments, as the jury is still out there. In addition, Z hasn't always been the most consistent, which is a major knock on him. Maybe that's due to his youth but it's an area that will need to be strengthened in NY.
Larry Brooks correctly noted that this trade was a way to change the chemistry and mix. However, to note that part of the reason for the trade was to improve consistency, especially when you consider that this is an area of weakness for Z, is inaccurate. Allen Walsh pointed out similar stating: "last 4 years Derick Brassard, 160 GP, 46G + 72A, 118 Pts (0.73 Pts/GM). In playoffs, 59 GP, 18G + 26A, 44 pts, (0.74 Pts/GM). CONSISTENT!"
You can easily questions Brassard's poor play in his own zone, which was major reason why he and Mats Zuccarello were separated last year despite their offensive chemistry. Same with his struggles at time against big time centers, though I think that too has been overplayed a bit. But what can't be questioned is how well he represented the Rangers on and off the ice and how he stepped in big moments. With this trade, Brassard gets to go home as he hails from Hull, Quebec, across the Ottawa River from Canada’s capitol, and owns a house in the area.
Brassard, who turns 29 on Sept. 22, led the Rangers with 27 goals last season and finished second in scoring (58 points) behind Zuccarello (61). Much of the conversation lately centered - pardon the pun - as to which 1a or 1b pivot man would get moved; Brassard or Stepan. Brass is the better goal scorer while Stepan is the better overall two-way player. Brassard had three years left at $5 mil per and is almost 29 while Stepan is signed for five more years at $6.5 mil and is just 26. New York opted to keep Stepan but maybe, Brassard had more interest due to his salary and goal-scoring prowess, resulting in him getting dealt.
The additional cap room first means that if there was any concern - for which there shouldn't be - as to if enough room existed to sigh Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes with money left over, this removes that. NY has about $13 mil in room and I project Kreider and Hayes to be a max $7.75 mil. What the room now does mean is that the Rangers can easily add a Vrbata or Hudler or Pirri or Gagner without creating any cap crunch. More important, the cap space created allows for the potential or another bold deal, not that Gorton would admit to it, along the lines of Rich Nash or maybe Kreider to get Kevin Shattenkrik or Hampus Lindholm plus maybe another piece. That cap differential between Brass and Zib may only last a year, as Z will be an RFA after the season and could get close to $5 mil or more on a LT deal with a big year.
What I had planned to write about before the deal. As I noted above, was that Gorton added speed and penalty killers up front in Michael Grabner, Nathan Gerbe, Josh Jooris along with nice depth on the blue line in Nick Holden, who could see some PP time. He also was able to ink and bring to the US, Pavel Buchnevich, who likely will slot onto the third line. In addition, on Monday, Gorton announced the signing of 2015 draftee Robin Kovacs to an ELC, though Kovacs is likely to spend this year in the SHL. In addition, Kovacs ELC will not be able to slide due to his age, but it's good that he is under contract and he gives NY another young forward with upside.
In his press conference today, Gorton addressed the question as to whether he has to make another move and if one is up his sleeve:
“I know there’s a lot of perception that you’ve got to overhaul the team and do all these things, but I’m not sure how realistic that is. We look at each deal differently and see where it takes us. But I would say, I’m not sitting here and mandated to change 10 things. This is an opportunity to get better and that’s why we took it.” ...“To be honest, answering those questions I don’t think is too bright,” Gorton said. “If I had another move I wouldn’t tell ya, even though I like ya.”
When asked on whether he considered buying out Dan Girardi, Gorton said:
“I know that Dan Girardi’s taken a beating in the media here, but you’re talking about a player that’s 32, that’s had a significant injury. We’ve seen some real good production from him for many years, and he did, by all accounts, not have the kind of year we wanted or he wanted. But we expect Dan to be better and he expects to be better, and the buyout, it just didn’t make sense for us if you look at it from all sides. It’s something I never considered. I really believe, and the organization believes, that Dan Girardi will be better this season.”
As Brandon Cohen tweeted, NY has gone from:
Nash-Brassard-Zuccarello
Kreider-Stepan-Fast
Miller-Hayes-Lindberg
Glass-Moore-Stalberg
27/5
18/22
93/8
To:
Nash-Stepan-Zuccarello
Miller-Zibanejad-Kreider
Lindberg-Hayes-Buchnevich
Grabner-Jooris-Fast
27/5
18/8
76/6
As of the evening of July 18, what we can say is that Gorton has improved and altered the mix up front. NY is clearly faster and a big younger while the PK should definitely be better. The slow and steady approach coupled with today's deal makes the top-12-14 forwards better than a year ago. Unfortunately, the corollary to that is that the blueline really hasn't improved.
As I wrote Friday, the D, who'd had major problems last year, has been largely left untouched. Gorton maybe relying on Brady Skjei filling a major role, Holden providing quality depth and a rebound from either or both of Girardi and Marc Staal. Having that faith is probably misplaced but what the trade today does is give Gorton options to maybe get a first line RHD and/or PP QB, which right now is lacking. G or Staal could still possibly get dealt or bought out, but both scenarios are having their likelihood reduced daily. Plus, given what Gorton said today about G, the probability of a buyout occurring is small, even if you rightly discount what he would say publicly. The Rangers at least now have options that didn't exist previously.
New York may be a better team than what they were this morning, solely due to upside and youth that Z provides. Overall, the gains made up front may end up offset by the stagnation to date on the blue line. If thinking longer term, even if you believe NY won't be a contender this year, they have improved the team moving forward, presuming Zib continues to develop and re-signs in NY. But to contend this year, moves on the blue line still need to be made and could very well occur following today's trade.
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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