Team: 2018-19 New York Rangers

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 9, 2018

Published: Mar. 9, 2018

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

This is a weird situation where we trade again with the Lightning for a player we alrwady traded. The rumored salary cap is $78 million or more. To be safe I kept the $75 million which would mean there is nearly $3 million in salary cap untouched by these moves.

Reacquiring Miller opens the 2nd and 3rd center positions for Name and Spooner to take over. Now I have checked it on here and the rough projected cap hit for the 2 is doable for the Lightning (2,500,000 for Vesey and 4,750,000 for Hayes). They would have to buyout Callahan to make it 100% doable however so they can sign 2 right wings to finish up the roster. Without that buyout they are about 700,000 over the cap with 1 forward spot to fill. They do have Coburn they can trade as well. Perhaps a team looking for LHD depth could take him They would lose Sustr but with Dotchin nipping at his heels it might be better for them to do that. Perhaps Anaheim would be a good trade target for him.

Relying on Andersson and Chytil to be ready is a gamble but judging by their production and being their playing style it might be better for them to be in the NHL. It is debatable that Andersson would be better off playing 1st line AHL minutes instead but with how the lines are created here he would be getting around 10-12 minutes of NHL time and he helps form quite a strong 4th line. I'm hoping that the 4th line we have here is one that can end up emulating the Moore-Boyle-Dorsett line.

The Zuccarello trade is a rough one for us fans. There was some small rumors around deadline time that Carolina was looking to trade Faulk for the right price. They obviously didn't get it. Faulk replaces DeAngelo in the line up physically by pushing the right side of the depth chart down. Now Zucc does not equal Faulk flat out. The 1st round pick however I believe adds more than enough value to him to pry Faulk away. That leaves DeAngelo and the 2nd for Teravainen. Along with whatever trade value is hanging off from Zucc and the 1st to make up for it more. Now I will admit that acquiring him is a pipe dream but hopefully the value is roughly there to get him and perhaps adding a late 2019 pick might be the cherry to get him. This does open them up to bringing Roland McKeown, who I've heard they like, to their NHL 3rd pair.

Signing Chiasson is kind of a project signing and would perfectly slot in with our skilled 3rd line. It also gives this team another right handed forward. I think of him as a Grabner signing for longer term and a little more expensive, younger player. He is a little bit misused in DC and might have a bounce back with our 3rd line.

Beleskey is more of a place holder on this roster but I don't think I mind him too much there as he is cheaper than before the trade and he is better than McLeod both offensively and defensively. He is also has that factor of face puncher, if needed, so has a bit of aggressiveness to his play.

The 3rd pair LHD spot is Smith's to lose as he has Hajek, Crawley, and Day to watch out for. Kampfer is a place holder and good option for 7th defensemen with Pionk getting the nod of nightly 3rd pair duties.

The defense isn't a strength per say but with the kids getting their feet wet in the NHL right now, a 100% healthy Shatty, and Faulk it couldn't be actually worse. I wouldn't mind Smith gone and bumping Gilmour down to 3rd pair with a strong player slotting in to 2nd pair (like Hjalmarsson).

Lettieri and Holland are there for rotation or injury. It doesn't hurt having either of them around.

As for the cap space the next season (2019-2020) we only have 3 RFAs of Buchnevich, Teravainen, and Pionk to actually sign. There are 2 UFAs of Kampfer and Holland but they are not a priority at all. The 3 RFAs might eat up the 10+ million in potential cap space unless if they go on a tear and produce like McDavid.

The one stipulation I have here is that the coaching staff needs to change. I am willing to keep a few like Beniot Allaire, Darryl Williams, and Jerry Dineen. Darryl Williams' role as assistant coach is a warm seat for him however. So gone are Alain Vigneault, Lindy Ruff, Scott Arniel, and skills coach Mark Ciaccio.
To replace them:
Head coach: Sheldon Keefe
Associate coach: Bob Hartley
Assistant coach 1: Steve Valliquette
Assistant coach 2: Dave Tippett
Skills coach: Adam Oates

Sheldon Keefe provides a young coach who has been coaching the Marlies, Toronto's AHL affiliate, for some time now.

Hartley provides Keefe a security blanket in a distinguished veteran coach.

Valliquette has playing experience and is an advanced stat supporter.

Tippett gives the bench another veteran coach that had the growing pains of the Coyotes.

Oates is an individual skill coach to a few NHL players. He keeps that same role but gets to support 1 team. Not to mention he was a great player too.

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