"Contenders"

They had one of the best groups of forwards in the league last year. They get the same exact lineup in terms of forwards. Their defense was holding them back and was the clear problem last year. Getting rid of Holden, Klein, G, and Staal and adding Shattenkirk, Miller, One of the rookies, and resigning Smith drastically changes their d corps. If they do something similar this off season they will easily be a contender....

staal waives nmc? even at that, vegas can sign a better ufa at 5.7m, making the trade and the pick kinda insignificant.

Boston says yes to this deal.

You think this is an overpay on Rangers side or a pretty fair deal? In all honesty I don't know too much about Miller but I feel like he would be a pretty solid bottom pairing d man.

Yea Staal waiving NMC is an obstacle to overcome but the VGK GM said he will take on huge contracts for picks. I think a first rounder would definitely be enough.

Gross overpay. Nothing against Miller as he's a capable 3rd pairing dman and possible 2nd pairing if injuries occur. The issue is supposedly Graves is NHL ready. The Rangers signed Beregzelov and Pionk as well. If Staal is traded and DG is bought out, Shat is signed and Smith signed then 2 spots are open. Kampfer/Clendening may very well already have a spot secured if Gorts does re-sign Clendening...
I don't think it'd make sense to trade Gropp who just had his best season in the OHL for basically Miller who can easily be a F we need if Fast is used to sweeten a deal for Staal. Gropp is cheaper and may be a more explosive 3/4 line Forward that's needed. $ wise Graves is $650K vs Miller $1M which also I think would be used more if needed.

Solid points made but Gropp isn't coming to the NHL anytime soon. If anything we can sign a depth forward or Boo Nieves would be called up if we lose a forward in the expansion draft. I also would love to see Clendening resigned and used as a bottom pairing d man but AV absolutely had him in his doghouse. My concern with Graves, Pionk, and Bereglazov is how AV will play them. You know how he barely trusts rookies. Look at how he played Skjei in the playoffs. Repeatedly putting Staal and Holden out in crucial times of the game even though Skjei was a beast and 10x better then Staal and Holden. Thats why I made the move for Miller because even if Graves, Pionk, or Bereglazov are ready, AV will favor veterans over them everytime unless he has changed his thought process over the off season. Plus getting rid of Holden is a plus because he is awful.

Definitely an overpay for the Rangers. Better off not making that deal, because if Vigneault isn't given the options to overplay vets at the expense of younger guys, he can't do it, right? Send Kampfer and any other vets to HFD fairly early in the offseason, and let Pionk, Graves, and Bereglazov battle it out for the bottom pairing