I'm not sure why so many folks seem to think the Rangers are getting Tolvanen. He's an 18 year old NHL-ready wing who would have an elite level shot if he stepped on the ice tomorrow for Nashville. This is not to mention that the scouting report from KHL says he's better than expected defensively and his playmaking ability is better than was originally advertised too. And they are going to trade him for a 3 months of a declining 33 year old winger? Yeah, okay Picks 3-29 [uck fay]ed up
The fact that the 4 teams most mentioned as landing spots for BDR are in the same division is a big plus, I think the return will be pretty impressive considering who he is at this point in his career. My gut feeling is he comes back to NY after the season and finishes his career there.
I hope one of those other teams mortgages the future for him for your sake. Poile won't, especially not with the best offensive player he's ever drafted
All around? No. Fiala is a more complete player. Offensively? Yeah, I think so. Of course, this is based on potential for now, it's easy for me to say that based on his ceiling (and he sure seems entirely capable of hitting that ceiling) but he may not. That said, he's way more advanced offensively at 18 than Fiala was.
For where we are in our Stanley Cup window, I think it might not be the worst idea to cash in on Tolvanen's hype. Not for a rental, though. I probably wouldn't think this if he hadn't hit a cold spell, FWIW. Ideally a top-6 winger nearing the end of RFA that we can extend through peak (basically a good outcome for Tolvanen shifted up a couple years to better align with the rest of our team).
Personally hoping Winnipeg goes in big for Nash or Zucc. Their system has lots of talent and their window is a bit smaller than Nashville's I think, so we may get a better haul.
Part of that cold spell was losing his center for several weeks. This kid is 18 playing against men, he was going to have a slump at some point. No way I'm trading him, he's going to be an All Star before our window closes
He has 6 points in 2 Olympic games since I posted (the first might have already happened prior but I saw it after). So it looks like the slump is busted. If perennial all-star is your expectation, it would obviously be tough to get back equivalent value. I just worry a bit about the track record (he's performed like a consensus top 5 overall, but that wasn't evident pre-draft), with a dash of KHL-phobia (Radulov, Steve "Holy" Moses). Whether it's fair or not. Although the list of guys I'd move him for is pretty much the list of guys whose teams wouldn't move them for any reason, so it's kind of a moot point. Maybe Jeff Skinner extended?
Jeff Skinner is too much of an injury risk imo. Maybe Pacioretty extended although he's still a little old.
Of course, I still think the most likely thing we do at the deadline (outside of standing pat) is trade for Vanek
In fairness he's not a "KHL Guy". He's a Finn who plays for Jokerit, which was in Liiga until a few years ago. Totally different dynamic than a Russian playing for one of the Russian governemts chosen few teams
Rangers got Holden from Colorado for a 4th last year, moved him for a 3rd and Rob O'Gara, who will probably be sufficient for a 3rd pair guy on a team that won't win 30 games next year. Really can't complain,
Y'all apparently don't want much of anything for Grabner. I'm down with Grabner. That's a perfect fit