Can They Win A Cup

Very easy no from Drury.

As if, an elite player like Kane plus Strome and Fleury and all it cost him was a two 1sts and a bunch of 2nd-3rd value peices, Drury would salivate over that deal.

Rangers won’t win the cup this year. This trade doesn’t strengthen the team as much as thought. Laf isn’t capable of top 6 time. You upgraded Kakko for Kane but still have a hole in the top 6. I don’t trust Dylan Strome as 3C. Gauthier won’t provide enough offense for depth scoring. Only part of this trade that makes sense to me is adding DeHaan to play with Schneider or Lundkvist.

To answer your pole, they definitely make it to the final 4. The D and G tending are great and the top 6 is very good but the 3rd line is the weak link. Strome is not good defensively, having him in the shutdown role (judging by his wingers) is a mistake IMO. If you could acquire another 3C who is better defensively then you have a real shot at the cup.

In the last 15 games, Strome has 9 points and more importantly, for the first time in his career is playing pretty decent defense...definitely a 200ft game. He's also playing really well at the dot. That said, he can also be put on the wing as he's a good playmaker, great passer and great vision. The way he's playing, I'd hate for the Hawks not to qualify him.

For clarity, I don't like this deal as a Hawks fan, and was doing this as a NYR GM as this IMO would favor the Rangers, but I could see our interim GM selling low on some of these guys not having much experience and getting worked by a more savvy GM. I do think this would give the Rangers a really strong shot at the cup depending if they can get by Carolina. Move AF to 3rd line and Strome to play next to his brother, that could be one of the best top 6 lines in the league and the 3rd line isn't all that shabby either. Goaltending would be amazing and we all know that is the biggest key to the cup.