New York Rangers should trade Georgiev by trade deadline, and more prospects garnering interest
The New York Rangers have lost two in a row and need some help offensively. In reality, the game in Pittsburgh could’ve gone either way and on Sunday against Vancouver, the Rangers looked tired playing their third game in four nights.
Also noteworthy was Alexandar Georgiev looked rusty. Really rusty.
With the stretch to the playoffs now in full effect, there are 29 games left with just four more back-to-backs. It’s expected that Igor Shesterkin will play a majority of those games. Aside from the aforementioned contests on consecutive nights, there’s three games against the likes of Montreal, Buffalo, and Ottawa.
That’s works out to six, maybe eight more starts for Georgiev?
One thing seems pretty clear, Georgiev isn’t built to be an occasional spot starter as he’s lost four straight after his last win on January 8th in Anaheim. Since then he’s 0-4-0 with a .871 SV% to go with a bloated GAA of 4.09.
Trading Alexandar Georgiev now makes sense
The Rangers could play it safe with Georgiev and have him as a break glass in case of emergency option if heaven forbid Igor Shesterkin were to get hurt. Of course, anyone being realistic understands that neither Georgiev, Kinkaid, or whatever deadline acquisition backup Chris Drury acquires is going to replace Shesterkin.
Here’s the deal, Georgiev is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. The Rangers are not even going to extend him a qualifying offer. His current salary of $2.42 million just is going to work and the team needs a back up that costs $1.5M or less. New York is facing a cap crunch next season and everybody knows it.
So holding out for better than a third round pick, which is what the Edmonton Oilers have been rumored to have offered seems futile. The Rangers could use that third round pick in another deal to acquire a top six rental forward. Or maybe Georgiev himself along with Vitali Kravtsov to the Montreal Canadiens for Artturi Lehkonen. You get the idea.
The bottom line is Georgiev isn’t suited to be a spot starter and Igor Shesterkin should probably play in at least 20 of the team’s final 29 games. Get something of value that you can use this season and stop hoping you can get better at the NHL Draft.
New York Rangers trade rumors
The U.S. version of Toronto’s trade rumor mill is in Manhattan. New York is having a breakout season and all but locked up a playoff spot since the rebuild letter of 2018. They are considered not only buyers, but likely to be the most active team at the Trade Deadline because of their extensive cap space for this season.
If there’s a big name trade target, they’ve been mentioned. From J.T. Miller, Tomas Hertl, and Claude Giroux to recently discussed Filip Forsberg. Acquiring any of them is going to cost the Rangers some of their kids.
While the Rangers have made some of their prospects available with Nils Lundkvist being the most high-profile, another is gaining interest.
We’re told that Hartford’s 20-year-old righty defenseman Hunter Skinner, the 112th overall draft selection in 2019, is attracting some interest as teams drill down on the Rangers’ pipeline beyond Nils Lundkvist, Zac Jones, Brennan Othmann, Matt Robertson and Will Cuylle.
NY Post
Chris Drury has a plethora of defensemen, so Hunter Skinner is certainly an expendable commodity. The real intriguing trade option is Will Cuylle, who is also garnering a ton of attention. He’s registered 28 goals and 51 points in just 38 games in the OHL.
One young prospect that is reaching untouchable status is Brennan Othmann, who is on fire in the OHL. The 2021 first round pick of the Rangers has 35 goals, 38 assists for 73 points in 43 games.
Read more: Rangers sign Wolf Pack captain to an extension and more.
NHL Rumors
So which of the top trade deadline targets will be traded? We take a look at Chychrun, Giroux, J.T. Miller, Hertl, and Klingberg here.
More About:New York Rangers News New York Rangers Features New York Rangers Rumors