The lingering offseason question for the Rangers is how they will manage the big three forwards of Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, and Chris Kreider. For all intents and purposes, Kreider appears to be the odd man out, or at least appeared to be prior to the Mike Sullivan hire. Now with Sullivan calling out his desire to coach the Team USA players from the Four Nations, there’s a chance Sully will push to keep Chris Kreider. That push may change the entire trajectory of the offseason.
If there is a push to keep Chris Kreider, then naturally salary cap relief will need to come elsewhere, likely in the form of trading Panarin or Zibanejad. As mentioned on Live From the Blue Seats, Zibanejad does have decent trade value, especially for teams that still view him as a center, but Panarin would be the bigger fish with the bigger return. All three of Kreider, Zibanejad, and Panarin would be sought after in trades, and there’s a solid chance all three would bring in bigger needs for the Rangers.
A big part of this discussion will be the no-move clauses for both Panarin and Zibanejad if the Rangers decide to keep Chris Kreider. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: No-move clauses can be traded, it’s just more difficult to do so.
If they keep Chris Kreider, then Panarin is the best trade chip
Similar to how trading K’Andre Miller likely leads to the Rangers keeping Carson Soucy, if the Rangers keep Chris Kreider, then it’s likely Panarin that would be dealt. Both are natural left wingers on a team that needs to create top-six left wing spots. Kreider is more easily replaced since Panarin’s 90+ points per season are impossible to replace int he lineup, but Panarin has far more trade value right now. There’s no true wrong answer, as long as the returns help move the Rangers in the right direction.
If Panarin is indeed dangled, then Anaheim is a team I’d keep tabs on. Pat Verbeek is on record saying he wants to make the playoffs next year, and though a lofty goal to make up 16 points in the standings, Panarin moves them in the right direction. The Ducks have the cap space and a clear need in their top-six that currently has Alex Killorn playing significant minutes.
It’s easy to think Trevor Zegras would be part of the return, but that doesn’t address what the Rangers would need, which is either a center or a left defenseman. It makes you wonder if the 10th overall pick would be in play for Panarin.
If the Rangers keep Chris Kreider, then trading Panarin sheds $11.6 million in cap space, frees up a top-six spot for Will Cuylle and/or Gabe Perreault, and nets them a top-ten pick in a draft that has a good amount of centers. The Rangers can do a lot with the 10th overall and 12th overall picks, especially if James Hagens falls or a top tier 1LD becomes available.
Regarding Panarin’s no-move clause, he’d be reunited with Joel Quenneville and Jacob Trouba. Whether he waives his NMC is still up in the air, but there’s logic to him accepting a trade like this.
If the Rangers keep Chris Kreider and Panarin winds up being the odd man out, then most teams will be lining up for him. Anaheim is just an easy pick because of cap space and fit. Minnesota would be interesting, as would the LA Kings. Both teams have the pieces to make it work.
Don’t sleep on Zibanejad
If the Rangers keep Chris Kreider and they are loathe to trade their best offensive player, then Zibanejad would be the next logical player to trade. It is again easy to say that trading Zibanejad is impossible because of the contract, but we’ve seen worse contracts traded. So that becomes lazy analysis. Zibanejad still put up 60 points in a down year on a bad team and is two years removed from a 90-point season. The contract is rough, but on paper he’s still a solid option for the 200 Hockey Men.
A team to watch here would be Minnesota, with Bill Guerin on record stating he is in the market for a center with over $14 million in dead cap space finally coming off the books. Zibanejad would be reunited with Mats Zuccarello, and as an added bonus, the flights to Sweden from Minneapolis-St. Paul are only an hour or two longer than from JFK.
For some reason, Minnesota also seems to want to trade Marco Rossi, who despite a 60 point season, wound up on the fourth line. This seems too good to be true, and it likely is, but it’s a safe assumption that if Guerin trades Rossi, it would be for a top-end center with term. Zibanejad fits that need, even if to us it doesn’t make any logical sense. It’s safe to assume the Rangers would need to add, probably the 12th overall pick.
Even if this scenario doesn’t play out, it’s reminder that teams will value both Zibanejad and Panarin. They will also value Kreider if the original plan holds true. Though it’s tougher to find suitable trade partners for Zibanejad, there will be teams that not only value him, but may find an interesting “buy low” opportunity for him.
The Rangers need a full shake up
The message this offseason is that a shakeup is coming. But what that means is still unknown. Trading just one of Kreider, Panarin, or Zibanejad isn’t really a “shakeup” as much as it is getting younger. A true shake up is trading two of them. There’s pros and cons of trading any of the big-three, and the only thing we know for sure is they are all, in some way, shape, or form, on the trading block.
If they keep Chris Kreider, then trading both Panarin and Zibanejad sheds $20.1 million in cap space and opens up the option of re-signing Will Cuylle long term. But a big question is whether Mike Sullivan sees Zibanejad as a center, just in a different role. Sullivan extended Jeff Carter’s career by simply changing his role, and he could do the same for Zibanejad, thus filling the need for another center.
I don’t think there’s a “wrong answer” regarding which players to keep. There’s value in getting out from the Zibanejad contract. There’s value in both trading and keeping Panarin. There’s value in both trading and keeping Kreider. The only “wrong answer” is regarding the trade return. To be blunt: Chris Drury cannot mess these trades up. If he and Sully decide to keep Chris Kreider, then they need to nail the Panarin and/or Zibanejad trades.
