Rangers going after Karlsson goes against rebuild direction

Updated:

Over the last 24 hours there have been several reports that Ottawa superstar, Erik Karlsson is a target for the Rangers. The Ottawa Sun even wrote that the Rangers, because of all their 1st round picks and cap space are a perfect suitor. However, giving up a bunch of picks and prospects for Karlsson flies in the face of the rebuild narrative.

Going After Karlsson

Make no mistake, Erik Karlsson is the best defenseman in the game today. However, he is a UFA next season and is looking for a massive contract in the neighborhood of 10 million per season for 7 years. That sounds great now at 28, but when he’s closing in on 35 will it make sense? If the Rangers were a star defender away from a Cup, I’d say yes.

Now when you add in the cost to acquire him, it makes even less sense. You are looking at draft picks, starting with the 9th overall selection, plus players like Buchnevich, Andersson or Chytil. Let’s not discount that the Senators may make it a sticking point that under-performing Bobby Ryan and his enormous contract must be taken also. If that’s the case, what are the Rangers saying? “Hey, that rebuild? Yeah, we were kidding.”

Earlier today, I tweeted this info for what it was worth.

Then just a little while later, Darren Dreger tweeted that the Rangers aren’t chasing big names, which aligns with the direction the Rangers really want to go in.

When you take all this info into account, the Rangers going after Karlsson doesn’t make sense unless they get him for a song. That in and of itself is highly unlikely.

By Anthony Scultore

Anthony Scultore has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL since 2014. His work also appears at... More about Anthony Scultore

Mentioned in this article:

More About: