If ever a game illustrated the Rangers’ crying need for a defenseman who can control the puck and lead the way out of the zone, it was this one at the Garden on Tuesday against Anaheim in which the shots and shot attempts at even-strength, 36-18 and 62-33 against, respectively, looked like scores of a Knicks game.
But even with 22 shopping days until the March 1 trade deadline and even though the Rangers own a projected $10.1 million of space, there is really no one on whom general manager Jeff Gorton can spend it.
No one on whom he can responsibly spend it without overpaying in terms of assets that would have to go the other way and with no one on the market worthy of such short-sighted sacrifice, that is.
Look, the Rangers are pretty good and pretty resilient. Maybe a tad better than that if Henrik Lundqvist plays up to the form he has displayed for most of the last three weeks, while perhaps reaching his season’s apex with 43 saves in this 4-1 victory over the Ducks in which his team was stuck in its own end for shifts at a time in a throwback to 2011-12.
Gorton is in a strange spot with this team that continues to exceed expectations at 34-18-1, but isn’t anyone’s idea as a smart-money bet to win the Stanley Cup. For while the Rangers certainly could win a playoff round and maybe two if they secure the wild-card crossover berth into the Atlantic they hold by 10 points, anticipating more would represent a flight of fancy.
Yes, the market is open, even for early shoppers, but while the Blueshirts — who are now responding en masse when opponents take liberties with one of them — could use more bulk and grit for the playoffs when time and space are at a premium, their primary objective has to be to add a puck-mover on the blue line.
What’s that, you ask? Adam Clendening? Suffice to say that if Alain Vigneault went on Sunday with Marc Staal, who was throwing up when he reported to the Garden, rather than Clendening, well then, No. 4’s ship can be safely said to have sailed.
Gorton is going to be shopping for a specialty item, for they just don’t need a defenseman, but a right defenseman, and not just a right defenseman but a right defenseman who can skate the puck out of trouble and who can make an outlet pass under duress, and not just a right defenseman who can skate the puck out of trouble and make an outlet pass under duress, but one who is capable of playing 23 minutes oa night as Ryan McDonagh’s first-pair partner.
You don’t find those guys on the Home Shopping Network.
If the Rangers could somehow cobble a deal together to rent Kevin Shattenkirk without sacrificing a top-nine forward, Brady Skjei or a No. 1, then of course they should dive into negotiations with St. Louis. But what’s the chance of that when the 28-year-old will be the most highly sought after lend-lease property on the market?
Plus, the upside of yielding assets to get Shattenkirk now for what would be a quixotic run at the Cup is minimal, with the Blueshirts having the opportunity to sign him come July 1. If it’s going to take a Keith Yandle-like seven years in the $45 million range to get him under contract, no, you should not expect the Rangers to sign up for that. But if Shattenkirk would take, say, $30 million over five years to play on Broadway, that would sure change the dynamic. But don’t hold your breath.
There will be top-two and top-four candidates available this offseason when the market expands and after the Rangers are able to fully evaluate this group through the full 82 and the playoffs.
Jacob Trouba could be in play and so could Ryan Ellis. Calgary might be willing to talk about Dougie Hamilton. The Ducks have a young impressive righty in Brandon Montour who is worth investigating.
The trade deadline is approaching and the Rangers are going to have to give to get. But there should be no urgency for Gorton to give up too much in order to get what likely would be too little for too much. The Rangers we’ve been getting all the way are, by and large, the Rangers you should see at 4 p.m. on March 1.
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