Team: 2021-22 New York Rangers

Initial Creation Date: Feb. 27, 2022

Published: Feb. 27, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Move Kakko and Kessel on the depth chart pending who is hot.

Goodrow should probably be a 3rd line player on this team, but rental options push him down to the 4th line just for this post season push.

I think this gives more potential scoring touch to the 3rd line without ruining team identity or future. And this 4th line can definitely show offensive flashes when they aren't masquerading as the 3rd line.

Right now, the Rangers are only consistently producing offense on two of their lines. That won't work in the playoffs. While yes, Chytil and Kakko are injured, neither of them were doing amazing in their roles prior to their injuries. Inserting Brassard and Kessel while keeping the strong chemistry 4th line in tact should round out the lineup nicely (for example, I really didn't think the Chytil/Goodrow/Whomever pairing was working really well before the injuries).

Brassard was scorching hot earlier in the year. Hopefully playing with the Rangers again could keep that flame going. Kessel is still racking up the points. I think these are low risk moves that won't change the identity too much, if at all. And again, relatively zero future implications, whereas some other rentals could require too many future pieces. I think these two rentals would be easily acquirable (Kessel is rumored to be currently shopped around at 50% retention for a 3rd round pick, according to Puck Empire)

There is also plenty of cap space to acquire a "real" backup goalie if NYR thinks they need one. I didn't bother with this move, because who knows what that market could look like with other playoff hopeful teams looking for an actual #1 goalie...

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