We kicked off our first trade proposal blog last week with Kevin Hayes. Those that met my criteria - totally subjective by the way - to make it to the voting level drew lots of consternation by many, who viewed the deals lopsided to New York. Out of the five top vote getters, I selected the two that were most likely, but more important, had the best shot at occurring.
Our second blog was on Mats Zuccarello, for which four deals were proposed. The voting was close for two of the four, all of which are listed below, either of which would help the Rangers and be a solid deal. Yesterday, I asked for votes in Adam McQuaid. Two proposals received involved the Maple Leafs while the third was with the Jets, all three of which would likely be an acceptable deal. Now for the key question, should I post a Chris Kreider trade proposal blog – sorry TPC – or did Larry Brooks cover almost every permutation in his column (https://nypost.com/2019/01/22/only-perfect-deal-should-pry-chris-kreider-from-rangers/) last week?
These blogs were audience participation, both in the comments and in the voting, so as a reminder, here were the parameters:
- Each day I will post which player will be discussed. My plan is to limit this somewhat, meaning unless there is a major push, someone like Henrik Lundqvist or Mika Zibanejad isn’t getting proposed for trading. I think we all know who is probable/possible to be moved. - In the comment section, propose your best deal for that player. But not so fast, that best deal includes: team acquiring, who that team is giving up and most important, the rationale for that deal, which consists of why New York would accept that package and why the trading team would trade that package. Therefore, no one-sided or lopsided deals, the trade has to make sense for both parties. - I will select the top 5-7 deals and post in Pollcode or one of the other polling sites, enabling voting. The highest voting % wins and I will limit the vote to only allow one selection per vote.
First up was Kevin Hayes. As a reminder, I allowed more than one vote per person. Here were the top five vote getters from the 800+ votes in the poll and I highlighted which ones might have the best chance of occurring.
COL: w/ Brady Skjei for Cale Makar and the Avs later first rounder 154 votes COL: Kaut & 2nd or Tyson Jost and a 2nd 112 votes LV: Vegas 1st rounder, Nashville's 3rd rounder, Montreal's 5th rounder and Dylan Coghlan. 109 votes MON: Ryan Poehling and a lottery protected 2019 first rounder 104 votes CGY: Rasmus Andersson & 2020 2nd Rd Pick (becomes a 1 if Hayes signs) 102 votes
I get being up in arms over some of the proposals. As a reminder, the Makar proposal was made feasible by including Brady Skjei in the mix. Martin Kaut or Tyson Jost likely would be attractive to New York while Colorado gets the second line winger they need. Montreal likely will not move Poehling, but that's a probable Rangers target. The Vegas and Calgary deals are the most probable to occur, based on return and need for each team.
Next up was Mats Zuccarello. Possibly due to all the hand-wringing over the Hayes proposal, few deals were proposed. For the Hayes trade, I allowed more than one vote per person. In this case, since only four were up for voting, I allowed only one choice to be made and two deals from the 450 or so votes clearly were favored, but I prefer the one that results in a first round pick coming back, but surrendering a third to get that pick may be difficult, though NY has two second round picks at a minimum, depending on what happens with Tampa in the playoffs..
Winnipeg Jets: 2019 2nd rounder and RW Mason Appleton 21% 95 votes Las Vegas: w/ NYR 2019 3rd Round Pick for the Knights' 2019 1st Round Pick 41% 185 votes Dallas: Albin Eriksson and 2nd in 2019 8% 36 Winnipeg, Colorado, Nashville, Edmonton etc.: 2019 Second Round Pick 30% 135 votes
Below are the three proposed deals for Adam McQuaid. Physical d-men always move at the deadline. The fun part is identifying which team has the biggest need for one or a depth blueliner and if GM Jeff Gorton will get more back that what he paid to acquire McQuaid. which was Steve Kampfer, a 2019 fourth-round draft pick and conditional seventh-rounder. Let me know in the comments which deals is best and if you have a different proposal.
To Maple Leafs: Adam McQuaid To NY Rangers : Toronto 2019 3rd round pick and 2019 7th round pick via Dallas.To Maple Leafs: Adam McQuaid and a 5th To NY Rangers: Carl Grundstrom
To Golden Knights: Adam McQuaid To NY Rangers: Winnipeg's 3rd round pick and Griffin Reinhart
Now, back to game action as the Rangers’ resume action tomorrow night. In short, no pun intended, Mats Zuccarello is out with a foot infection, but may play Thursday. Brett Howden is moving from center to wing to replace Zucc, reducing his responsibilities, hopefully jumpstarting his game. Kevin Hayes, out for the past month due to an upper body injury that occurred late in the Dec. 14 game against Arizona, should be back in the lineup. Boo Nieves, sent down to Hartford for the break, was called back up yesterday and will center the fourth line. Neal Pionk, who missed the last three games and four of the last five games with a lower-body injury before the break, is expected to play tomorrow. Ryan Lindgren, despite an impressive three-game stint replacing Pionk, remains with AHL Hartford, likely due to the logjam of blueliners in NY and he could remain down until the February 25 trade deadline, unless a deal or injury occurs prior to that date.
Lines: Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Brett Howden Filip Chytil-Ryan Strome-Jesper Fast Jimmy Vesey- Kevin Hayes-Vladislav Namestnikov Cody McLeod-Boo Nieves-Pavel Buchnevich
On defense, the main questions with Pionk back are who sits and who moves to their off-side. With Lindgren remaining in Hartford, the first question is easily answered. As noted in the NY Post, Tony DeAngelo is likely the right-handed defenseman most comfortable playing the left, having played his off-side through junior as well as in a couple of games this month for the Rangers. But if Quinn shifts DeAngelo to the left, he would break up the recently constructed Marc Staal-DeAngelo first tandem that has played well through five games. Because of this, Kevin Shattenkirk, who closed out the “first half… looking a bit more like the defenseman New York thought they were getting July 1, 2017, may move to the left paired with Pionk, who had been on the first pair with Marc Staal for 35 of the first 43 contests . If that’s the duo, then coach David Quinn can maintain his top two units of Staal-DeAngelo and Brady Skjei-Adam McQuaid with Brendan Smith a healthy scratch again and Fredrik Claesson still sidelined with a shoulder injury.
Alexander Georgiev, also sent down to Hartford to get some action during the break, will start between the pipes Tuesday. He allowed six goals in a 7-4 Wolf Pack defeat to Springfield on Wednesday. Henrik Lundqvist, who had a stellar All-Star weekend in San Jose stopping all six shots in the first period of Team Metro’s three-on-three championship after winning the save-streak skills competition with a record 12 straight saves, won’t play against the Flyers.
Larry Brooks on Kevin Hayes. We have hashed and rehashed and hashed and rehashed this. Settle in for the next four weeks as the rumors will be fast and furious and a resolution, as Brooks noted, is unlikely until 3 p.m. in New York on Feb. 25, resulted in lots of spilled ink and chatter until then. My view here is well-known and documented, so no need for me to weigh in again at this point.
Chances are the 26-year-old center will be somewhere else by the time the clock strikes 3 p.m. in New York on Feb. 25, but neither the Rangers nor Hayes have shut the door on the possibility of an extension. And while there have still been no negotiations between general manager Jeff Gorton and Hayes’ representative, Bob Murray, the parties have maintained regular contact and neither side believes that time is necessarily the enemy as it applies to hammering out a contract.Still, let’s be serious. Gorton is going to shop Hayes aggressively in the interim in order to determine the rental value of No. 13, who will rejoin the lineup for Tuesday’s reopener against the Flyers at the Garden after having missed nine games leading into the bye/All-Star break with a middle-body issue. It is possible the market for Hayes may not crystalize until the fates of prospective available forwards Matt Duchene, Mark Stone, Artemi Panarin, Brayden Schenn and perhaps Vladimir Tarasenko are established.
Hayes left the lineup following the Jan. 2 match against Pittsburgh after playing through the undisclosed injury that originated late in the Dec. 14 game against Arizona when he crashed into the end boards, but still has 33 points (10 goals, 23 assists) in 39 games, good for third in scoring on the club. Before going without a point in his final two games, Hayes had been on a nine-game streak in which he recorded 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) while seeming to possess the puck for shifts at a time.
Gorton will weigh the offers against Hayes’ future value. Regardless of the heft of the return packages, though, the critical unanswered question is whether the general manager and his people have enough confidence in Hayes to award him a five- or six-year deal upwards of $6 million per. The question is whether management believes the Boston College product will be the same player with the security of a long-term deal as he has been while working on one-year deals each of the past two seasons.
The question whether the benefits of Hayes’ growth will accrue to the Rangers or to a different team will be answered in four weeks or less. “In my head, I know where I want to be,… Hayes said. “Here.…