While I was out the last two days, the Rangers lost badly twice at Traverse City and made a curious deal, acquiring Adam McQuaid from the Boston. After splitting their first two games with all four teams in their division sitting at 1-1 with a net goal differential of zero, the Rangers were shut out 5-0 by Detroit on Monday and then fell to St. Louis on Tuesday, putting a cap on a disappointing tournament. Tuesday, GM Jeff Gorton sent Steven Kampfer, a 2019 fourth rounder a conditional seventh rounder to Boston for McQuaid, a right-handed, physical defenseman.
In McQuaid, who was limited to just 38 games due to a broken leg last season, New York acquired a player who is more than willing to stand up for his teammates. In the recent past, the Rangers have been pushed around a bit and there was some concern that with all the kids on the ice, the potential existed for liberties to be taken. With McQuaid’s addition, some of fhose concerns are partially alleviated.
Defensively, however, as Sean Tierney points out, McQuaid leaves a bit to be desired. He is an upgrade on Kampfer, but a mild one. Giving up a fourth rounder is not ideal, but seeing how veteran blueliners are in demand at the demand, GM Jeff Gorton likely figures he can turn McQuaid around for a third rounder or at worst a fourth rounder down the road.
Adam McQuaid gets a lot of pucks towards the net but isn't really an effective NHL defenseman.
— Sean Tierney (@ChartingHockey) September 11, 2018
Kampfer isn't an NHL defenseman.
If you swept up a couple of draft picks in this trade, you're the winner. pic.twitter.com/RlSH0PQxs2
Inporting McQuaid creates a logjam on the blue line. As noted by several others, the Rangers top-six heading into camp is likely to be Kevin Shattenkirk, McQuaid and Neal Pionk on the right side and Brady Skjei, Marc Staal and Fredrik Claesson/Brendan Smith on the left side. Brooks noted that Smith will be in competition on the left side with Claesson, John Gilmour, Rob O'Gara and possibly Libor Hajek. Of that list, ‘Kirk, Skjei and Staal are assures of roles, though Brooks also noted that Staal may not be guaranteed of a spot in the top-six, which would be an interesting way to spend $5+ million.
Brooks on trade:
Brendan Smith impacted by McQuaid acquisition. Chances now remote he would move to right, so he will be in left side mix with Claesson, Gilmour, O'Gara, Hajak, Lindgren and Day. Skjei and Staal assured spots, though No. 18 not guaranteed top six.
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) September 11, 2018
Smith plays a physical game like McQuaid but he is far from the pugilist McQuaid is. When Claesson was signed this July, Smith had one more blueliner he had to surpass to earn a role. Now, with McQuaid on the camp, Smith’s job got that much harder, as the option he had to play on his off-side was impacted. To me though, just because Claesson and McQuaid were added, that doesn’t mean that either or both will be in the lineup daily, which should allow coach David Quinn some lineup flexibility.
Libor Hajek, Ryan Lindgren and Tony DeAngelo are also all impacted by McQuaid’s acquisition. A healthy amount of competition already existed for a blue line spot. With McQuaid now in town, a veteran presence who is making a decent anoint of money now has been added to the mix. This move now increases the odds against a breakout candidate in camp earning a spot, though given what we expect this season to be and the goal of growth, if a neophyte plays well, he should break camp over one of the veterans.
This move, besides adding toughness, also may be an indication that Gorton is not fully sold on the kids being ready this season, an idea also mentioned by Joe Fortunato. Sean Day did not have a good Traverse City tournament while Hajek and Lindgren were passable at best and most certainly didn’t excel. Gorton and management might have decided over the summer that rather than rushing a player to the NHL, allowing the young D further time to develop at Hartford etc. DeAngelo is one name though that doesn’t have options remaining and will have to pass through waivers to be sent back.
Most of us felt that DeAngelo, because of the lack of options and the desire to show more than just Lias Andersson from the Derek Stepan trade, would break camp with the team. Plus, we all hoped that the hiring of Quinn would prove beneficial for DeAngelo’s game. Now, his battle got even harder with McQuaid in camp. It’s posisble New York opens the season with DeAngelo on the team and Pionk in the minors, but I would hope that whoever is better player earns the spot rather than a procedural move deciding who wears the red, blue and white on Broadway.
As Carp also noted, If or when McQuaid gets a regular spot in the top six, it also means the Rangers won’t need to play McLeod most nights, which translates into a spot on the forward lines for a younger player such as Ville Meskanen or Michael Lindqvist or one of their prospects. To me, that may be the biggest benefit of this deal. Using skilled players up front rather than wasting a spot on McLeod furthers the development of the younger players and also lengthens the roster. Give me Meskanen or Lindqvist or Brett Howden etc rather than McLeod.
In adding McQuaid, the Rangers will enter training camp with 47 of their 50 reserve list slots filled and between $2.6 million and $3.5 million in cap space. If New York is to take on a big money contract to facilitate a deal for another team and acquire future assets, the Rangers will have to move a salary. I don’t expect the Rangers to be very active before the trade deadline, so their current cap position should remain static, enabling a bigger deal to be made down the road when someone Mats Zuccarello or possibly Kevin Hayes is moved.
For the Boston perspective on the deal, Joe Haggerty did a nice job summarizing the trade and the impact on the locker room and roster:
Marchand on McQuaid trade: "When you look around the room you want guys like him. An incredible guy off the ice & in the room. He’s a great friend, and as a teammate he’d do anything for the team & for each individual player. So it sucks. It’s unfortunately part of the business"
— Joe Haggerty (@HackswithHaggs) September 11, 2018
They’ll absolutely miss his toughness, his selflessness and his sledgehammer right-handed punch, but McQuaid -- one of eight NHL defensemen in the B's camp -- probably wasn’t going to play much at all this season. Last year he only got into 38 games and was a healthy scratch for long stretches in the middle of the season when the rest of the blue line was healthy, productive and playing at a high level. McQuaid and Kevan Miller are essentially two sides of the same coin as big, rugged and physical right-shot D-men, with Miller a little faster and more skilled and McQuaid a little more of a fearsome fighter.The Bruins essentially gained at least one mid-round draft pick and a decent AHL/NHL depth D-man in Kampfer while clearing $2.75 million in cap space. With both Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo up for new contracts after this season, there was zero chance McQuaid was coming back to Boston in 2019. So Boston got a little value for a player on the back end of his NHL career.
Based on Boston’s cap and roster situation, making a trade was paramount. For New York, adding a veteran d-man, especially via trade with some other names available, wasn’t imperative. But if McQuaid can provide leadership and toughness early, then be flipped for a pick opening up a spot for a kid, the deal could be a win-win for both sides.