mckegg not supposed to be on 2nd line.

Strome a point pregame player right now. His also a 5th overall pick thats a point pregame which means maybe he broke from them chains... Lets see what he's at when the trade dead line nears.

I don't feel draft position means anything, at this point in Strome's career.

He's going to be a 50-55 pointer this year. He's playing 2nd line center. He's worth more then just a 3rd round pick.

No way will the Rangers let Kreider go for that...he's had a slow start this year- but the deal for him will either be a late 1st (from a contender) and a "B" prospect...or a 2nd round pick + a 21-22 year old NHL ready prospect with a decent ceiling. If all they are offered is a 2nd, 3rd, and another conditional 3rd- they will let it ride and allow the market to develop for him...I'm sure there will be a few teams by Jan/Feb that see themselves as heavyweight contenders this year and can REALLY use the size/speed combo that Kreider offers....and as injuries mount up (ehem St Louis/Colorado) that market will develop- and probably sooner than later.

As for Strome- the trade here is probably fair value at the moment- but with the Rangers dearth of GOOD NHL ready forwards there would need to be a little sweetener to move him right now. So much for him does depend on how the Ranger lineup settles in- which will affect his deployment...but if he has a 50 point year (or projects to that by January) then the cost for him will go up significantly.

Current RFA Compensation:

$1,395,053 or below: None
$1,395,054-$2,113,716: 3rd
$2,113,717-$4,227,437: 2nd
$4,227,438-$6,341,152: 1st, 3rd
$6,341,153-$8,454,871: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
$8,454,872-$10,568,589: 2 1sts , 2nd, 3rd
Over $10,568,590+: 4 1sts


I think this needs to be taken into account. Strome will be an RFA at the end of the year with a qualifying offer of 3.1m. Right now, if he was offered the same exact salary on a 1 year deal the compensation would be a 2nd round pick.

Now to get into the nitty gritty,
This is a big IF, but say strome is able to post 35-40 points in the next 50 games. That'll put him in the 45-50 point range for 61 games (typical amt of games played by TDL w/o injury). If you looked at the amount of centers that were traded at the deadline with this number of points, they have almost always gotten a 1st round pick (not saying strome will here). But due to his RFA status at the end of the year, logic would dictate that he could get a better return than a regular pending UFA at the TDL. Now do i think Strome will have 45-50 points by the deadline, no. But I also didn't think he would have a 54% faceoff percentage or 10 points through 10 games. I think the minimum the rangers should accept is what they would definitely get from an offer sheet, which would be a 2nd round pick. If they can start a bidding war they may be able to get more