New York Rangers Free Agency Frenzy: Gavrikov Signing, Miller Trade & Draft Breakdown

New York Rangers Free Agency Frenzy: Gavrikov Signing, Miller Trade & Draft Breakdown

What’s up Rangers faithful? This is the Rink Rock Podcast right here on Forever Blue Shirts. I am Jim Cerny. Thanks for coming to hang out. This is where it all happens with the Rangers. Break it all down and man, there’s so much going on and I know you guys are fired up. Most of you are pretty happy today. after the start of free agency on july one and chris jury’s big day really taking care of a lot of business in a lot of different ways I know most of you are really happy I know some of you are still pissed off that there’s somebody that’s killing me on social media about how the rangers really blew it because they spent one point five million dollars a year over the next two years on taylor radish like this is going to be the undoing of the new york rangers Forget everything else, the good, the bad. It comes down to the fact that they gave one point five mil to Taylor Radish. So, yeah, we’ve got the guy also telling me that this is the centennial year. The Rangers have to win the Stanley Cup to the guy who thinks that, yeah, Taylor Radish being signed is going to squash any Stanley Cup hopes for the New York Rangers. So we got that. We got everything in between. Love your passion. Love your passion. That’s what fuels this rink wrap podcast forever. Please like and subscribe to the podcast. It’s a big help. We love your support and also your support on social media at Jim Cerny at Forever Blue Shirts and also heading to the website, of course, foreverblueshirts.com, where certainly I’ve been firing up story after story, analysis after analysis, because this is the busiest time of the offseason. We just went through the drafts. which was certainly an important stretch for the Rangers. Eight picks, none of them on day one, but you know what? That’s okay. Eight picks kind of restocked the prospect pool. And then we got into what happened on July first. And why don’t we start from that point and we’ll kind of work backwards to the draft. So everything, everything. This offseason, clearly for the New York Rangers, centered around signing Vladislav Gavrikov. Okay? And clearly they knew. I know tampering and this, that, and the other thing. There’s no tampering. Rangers never talk to Gavrikov’s representation or whatever. Okay, whatever. Somehow the Rangers knew that Gavrikov, that there was the mutual interest there. But you could also see it, even as a casual observer. You could see that Gavrikov was kind of holding the Los Angeles Kings at arm’s length. Kenny Holland, their new GM, really wanted to get Gavrikov signed. You know, you saw it in all the interviews, you know, through the draft weekend and heading into free agency. Holland was trying. We’ve got another offer. We’re going to meet again. We’re going to talk again. And there’s no doubt Gavrikov was holding them off. at arm’s length. He wanted the New York Rangers, but the Rangers off-season plan was centered around landing Vladislav Gabrikov. I do not know if they knew that they’d be able to get him at seven million dollars a year. I think we all thought, especially when you saw Ivan Provorov re-up with Columbus for eight and a half million a year on a max deal, you know, you kind of, you winced a little bit and said, wait a minute here, you know, Gabrykow is the better defenseman, right? Yeah, I’ve been writing that for how many months? You know, when I listed the free agent defenseman, Gabrykow was the guy I thought was the best available option, especially on the left side. You could make your Aaron Ekblad, I guess, argument on the right side, but hey, he never made it to free agency either because he re-upped with the Panthers, but… You know, if it was Gavrikov or Provorov, like to me, Gavrikov’s the better player. I mean, they’re both solid top four left shot defensemen. But Gavrikov was more my guy. You all know that. I’ve talked about it here on the podcast. I’ve written about it multiple times. You know, I forever blew shirts. But boy, you had to think, right? When you saw Provorov re-up for eight and a half million a year, where you go, uh-oh. You know, is this going to submarine Chris Jury’s, you know, master plan? Because there’s no doubt that this was the first domino that needed to fall. Okay. They needed to bring in Gavrikov. They needed to sign him, needed to know that they had him under contract really before they traded Keiondre Miller. Because just on the off chance that they had traded Keiondre Miller a week ago, let’s say, He’s off the roster. Your top left shot D at that point was, what, Carson Soucy? Okay. Maybe Braden Schneider if you move him from right side to left side. But, whew, you know, you’re running the risk there. That really would have been flirting with disaster. Because what if Gavrikov then re-upped with L.A.? And Provorov re-upped with Columbus? I mean, what were your options? You know, they’re in free agency. Brian Dumoulin? I don’t think so. Anyway, it didn’t happen that way. But the Rangers certainly were in a better position to make that Keiondre Miller trade once they had Gavrikov under contract. Again, seven years, forty nine million. It’s a big investment for a guy that’s twenty nine years old. So he’s going to be thirty six heading towards thirty seven at the end of this deal. But that said, right now, you certainly can make that argument that Gavrikov is the steadier, more reliable, shut down defensive defenseman. A guy to pair with Adam Fox, right? I mean, he, you know, I know the Kings are much better overall defensive team than the New York Rangers. You know, they get much more buy-in and commitment from their forwards. And, you know, it’s a different style. And that helps Gabrikov’s underlying metrics. He’s a good defenseman, okay? Physical, big, you know, as I said, steady and reliable, uses his stick well, makes good decisions, gets the puck out of there as well. So, you know, that was the Rangers plan, right? You know, it was all centered around Gavrikov. Then the Miller trade happens. And to me, what a fascinating trade this is going to be. Not just now, to dissect now. Because, you know, I see so many people proclaiming, you know, the Rangers are the winners of this trade, right? And listen, they’re hauled. I didn’t expect them to get, you know, a first rounder, a second rounder. Oh, and a top prospect defenseman in return as well. I didn’t think they were going to get that for Miller. You know, I knew Miller had appeal around the league, but boy, that, I didn’t expect that return. But circling back, the Rangers no longer believed in this player, one. But I still believe they would have brought him back if Gavrikov was not available. They couldn’t have afforded to let Miller go. However, financially, especially with the salary cap where they stood, they couldn’t afford to keep Miller once they had Gavrikov, once they signed Gavrikov. So Keiondre gets traded. I think a really nice haul for the Rangers. I know we were all surprised. I don’t think anybody from the NHL insiders to reporters like me, to fans like you, I don’t think anybody really expected that kind of return for Keiondre Miller. Then Carolina doubled down on it with that massive contract, seven and a half million, you know, a year for eight years, a sixty million dollar package for a guy that the Rangers were so reluctant to go long term or big money with. So, you know, listen, right? Eye of the beholder. You know, Rangers, Rangers, a close up view of Keiondre Miller for years. And this was their assessment. You know, if that’s our last option, OK, you know, we’ll we’ll we’ll keep them. We’ll figure something out, sign them to three year deal, whatever. You know, that was the feeling that you had. But our preference is let’s move on from this guy. We don’t think he’s worth the long term investment. too inconsistent, you know, yeah, crazy upside. But is he ever going to reach that? Was two years ago the best we’re ever going to see from Keiondre Miller? That seemed to be where Chris Drury was at. Carolina on the flip side. And, you know, this is where it takes a long time to dissect a trade. You know, because right now, again, like I said, a lot of people, hockey experts, hockey insiders thinking, wow, it’s a great trade for the Rangers. Well, here’s the thing. The Carolina Hurricanes are super confident that in their system, playing on the second defense pair, playing behind Jacob Slavin, playing their, you know, up-tempo style, you know, which they do so effectively under Rod Brandenburg, that Keiondre Miller’s going to be not only a good top four defenseman, he’s going to be a star. That’s clearly what they’re banking on by giving away, you know, three key assets to and signing Miller to a sixty million dollar contract, like their faith in Rod Brindamore and in their system and in their locker room with their players, their leaders and how they develop their prospects. And I know Miller is, you know, a young veteran right now at this stage of his career is not a prospect, but how they bring along their players into their style and do it so successfully. you know, even with some rapid turnover over the years, they believe in the player here. They believe in what Keontre Miller can be. The Rangers did not. And I’m not so sure either. But if there’s one organization that might be able to really draw out the best in him and put him in the best situation, right? He’s not going to play on the top pair. I’m not saying he can’t. I can’t say, I don’t, think that it’s impossible that he can’t be a top pair defenseman in the NHL, a real effective one. He would have been this year if he was the Rangers guy. I do believe he would have been Adam Fox’s partner. But to have him play behind Jacob Slavin, that’s pretty good, right? That’s pretty good for that team. It’s a good spot for Keiondre Miller. So I wrote in my analysis story last night that you can, of course, see on foreverblueshirts.com. that right now this second for me this is win-win I think I think yeah both teams win right now as of today as of july second both teams win and I think the player wins players win Because I think this is what Gavrikov wanted. I think he’s fired up to come to New York, come to Broadway, be a Ranger. It’s clearly what he wanted. He left money on the table to come here. So a win for him. I think it’s a win for Miller. He gets out from New York. The last two seasons, a lot of negativity around him, around the team. Clear that the general manager didn’t believe in him anymore. So he gets a fresh opportunity. With a really good organization, with a really good head coach, with a system and structure that should really benefit him. So it’s a win for Gavrikov. It’s a win for Miller. It’s a win for the Rangers. Conditional first round pick and a second round pick in a loaded two thousand twenty six draft. And. You get prospects, Scott Morrow, one of Carolina’s top prospects, right? And what you do here, too, is you turn back the clock a little bit. And he and Keiondre Miller are different defensemen, above and beyond the fact that one’s a left shot, one’s a right shot. Like, Morrow is much more of an offensive defenseman, okay? And he has struggled defensively. in his growth as a defenseman, playing in his own end. He has struggled in that aspect, and it’s taken him a while in his development to get better. He finally cracked the NHL a little bit last year. He was thrust into five postseason games because of injuries on Carolina’s blue line. That was not pretty. He was probably not ready for that moment. And listen, the rest of his team kind of got exposed there too by the Panthers. But, you know, he had a tough go of it in the playoffs. But listen, he’s a young kid. He’s twenty two. So you’re getting a defenseman. And this is why I talk about turning back the clock a little bit here. He’s three years younger than Keiondre Miller, and he’s going to make a lot less money against the salary cap. That’s a win for the New York Rangers. So Gavrikov replaces Miller in the lineup. You also add Morrow possibly to the lineup, if not right at the start of the year. At some point, you know, they’re counting on him to be one of their top six. If not, you know, early October, then sometime soon, right? So now you’ve incorporated two new defensemen in there. And one of the guys that replaces Miller, again, younger, less expensive. You know, let’s see. Let’s let us work with him now. And again, gives a different look to the Rangers defense, gives them a really, really good second offensive option on the back end, obviously behind Adam Fox. And they needed this. Because they let Zach Jones go. Now, listen, it’s clear where the Rangers stood on Zach Jones, you know, from David Quinn to Gerard Gallant to Peter Laviolette. None of those coaches trusted Zach Jones to be an everyday defenseman in every game defenseman. Right. Despite the offensive gifts that he had. So, you know, he didn’t get his qualifying offer. He’s shown the door. He’s signed a one-year two-way contract. I know I’m jumping off on tangents here. One-year two-way contract with the Buffalo Sabres who are loaded down the left side. He’s stuck in almost the same situation he was the past five years with the New York Rangers, right? He could be on the AHL, you know, Express and… I was surprised that’s where he ended up. And again, you know, the Sabres are loaded on the left side, you know, with guys that are signed for multiple years, including your captain and one of your alternate captains, two first round picks, you know, power in Darlene. Yeah. So unless they’re going to move one of those guys to the right side or move Zach Jones to the right side, as they did with Bowen Byram last year, I don’t know. It seems to be, almost an identical situation you know for Zach Jones in a case we digress so that Zach Jones you know gets moved from the equation for the Rangers but now Mauro steps in as that second really good offensive option on the back end and to be honest probably a better option his right shot uh he’s bigger right you know clearly the rangers were not comfortable with the fact about zach jones’s size so you know mara’s a bigger guy um you know pretty prolific in the minor leagues last year you know good good background and listen carolina’s top prospects if not the top prospect in the hurricanes organization So Scott Morrow’s here. One of the things that I also like about his addition, let’s assume that he goes through training camp and they think he’s good to go as a top six guy for opening night. What this does is clear the path. And I think this is really, really like an underlying thing that is part of the magic of this trade, if you will. is that it gives the Rangers the opportunity to move Braden Schneider out of the third pair from the right side, his natural side, and move him up into a top four spot finally, but do it on the left side, his offside. He proved last year And I know he didn’t do it for half a season or the entire season. But when given the opportunity early on in the season because of injuries to play the left side, Braden Schneider, he proved to you he can play the left side. So he, especially now that the shoulder is healed, he had the surgery, he’s been playing with the torn labrum for a couple of years. You put him and Will Borgen together there as a defense pair, your second defense pair that you can line them up against whichever line you want them to match up with. That’s a nice physical pair. getting Morrow allows you to do that because you can bring Morrow along as a third liner on the right side, basically taking Schneider’s spot there. And then he pairs with a veteran either way, you know, whether it’s Carson Soucy or whether it’s Earl Vakanainen, you know, he’s got a veteran guy on the left side that he can lean on on the third pair. And I don’t know about you, I like either Vakanainen or Soucy, a third pair role as opposed to having one of them be the second pair defenseman with borgen like I know susie you know I’m sure you know especially three and a half million dollars a year probably envisions himself more as that that second pair guy but I think you’re better served you know schneider borgen and then bakanainen and or you know or susie along with Morrow. So I think that’s an underlying part of this trade. Again, you know, right now the Rangers can say that this is a win for us. You know, you move on from a player you didn’t want, you get quite a haul in return. And again, if you’re Carolina, if you really, and they do, you’ve heard what Rob Brindamore has said, what Eric Tulsky, the GM has said, and they put their money where their mouth is. They believe in Keiondre Miller. They said that our scouts search for players that will fit. with our style, with our structure, how we play the game, we think Keiondre Miller is a perfect fit. So for them right now, it’s a win too. But what I love about this, what makes this trade so fascinating, right, is that it’s within the division. Who makes this big a trade within the division? It almost never happens. Certainly with Chris Drury, it doesn’t happen. He is so cautious. And all the rumors before Miller was traded was that they were talking to teams in the We did hear some Detroit Red Wings rumors as well, but at least that was added to the Metropolitan Division. No, Carolina, man, this is a team that you’ve played twice in the past four years in the playoffs. This is a team that you battle for playoff positioning with. oh, hell, this is going to be great, right? You know, it just adds to the stakes of this trade. And at the end of the day, whether it’s three years, five years, seven years down the road, whenever we really size up and we can look back and say, well, winner or loser, it’s possible both teams come out of this looking good, right? Both teams can win here. Or you can have a, you know, If Keiondre Miller’s skating around the rink like Nico Micola with the Stanley Cup, yeah, that’s probably not good for Chris Drury at the New York Rangers. Or the flip side, if the Rangers win a cup or they continually finish ahead of Caroline or knock Caroline out in the playoffs like they did in, you know, you know, then they’re the clear winners. But, you know, this is a chance to be one of those that really works out for each side. And listen, Let’s have at it. I love that he’s going to be in the division. And I love that, you know, guys are going to be going head to head and everything. You know, in reading your social media input, you know, since the trade, I’d say it’s overwhelming, you know, how people feel about this. You know, everybody seems psyched that Gavrikov is here. They felt it was time for Miller to move on. Some people more vocal about it than others. But for the most part, you know, people agreed, you know, it’s time to move on. So, Ranger fans right now are happy. I think Hurricanes fans are happy and, you know, let the chips fall where they may. We’ll really start to dive into this once training camp starts and we get a better look at Scott Morrow and, you know, and go from there. One of the other pieces of big news for the Rangers on July one was they got Will Cooley under contract, right? RFA, you know, a lot of stories and rumors about if somebody can offer Sheetum, the Rangers only have X amount of money under the salary cap. Well, he came in at a little bit higher figure than the Rangers normally give out on a second contract. You know, your first contract after your entry level one. Historically, the Rangers don’t go as high as three point nine million dollar AAV as they did with Cooley. But I think he’s, you know, listen, he’s a special kid. And there’s no doubt, you know, Chris Drury wants this team to be a more straight ahead, north-south, physical, you know, team. Players that show up every game, play the two hundred foot game. I mean, admit the disaster that it was last year. Night in and night out. Will Cooley was exemplary in his effort. He went through stretches where he wasn’t scoring goals and he struggled or whatever with production. But never with effort, never with effort with that guy. And, you know, those three hundred one hits Rangers record tied for third in the league last year. That’s not just a random number that speaks to who this kid is. And it’s not just, you know, hits. I mean, he can be in a game altering shift, altering guy just with his physical play. And oh, yeah. He can finish. Twenty goals last year in his second full NHL season, forty-five points. And that’s with not always being in the top six. I mean, he started, you know, on the third line, you know, and kind of bounced around throughout the year. If he gets consistent top six minutes, and his minutes did jump by four minutes a game from his rookie season last year, you know, and he plays on the power play, whether it’s, you know, first or second unit, likely second unit. and he continues to be a presence on the penalty kill. I mean, he’s solid defensively, plays a two-hundred-foot game. These are the guys you want to build around. And it was vital that the Rangers got this done before any offer sheet nonsense or before, you know, the rumors could even build up that there was any distraction. And the Rangers got it done. And, you know, it helped a little bit that Gabrikov probably took a little less money, but they were still going to find a way to get it done. And you had the sense all along, too, that, sure, you know, Will Cooley is not going to sneeze at if somebody came at him with a massive offer sheet offer. You know, listen, he’d have to look out for himself for sure. But I think underlying with all this is Will Cooley wants to be a New York Ranger. I think he wants to be a part of this next wave, a core, as a leader, you know, as a successful player with this organization. So, again, talk about win-wins. It’s a win for Will Cooley. That is a nice win. basically three million dollar a year raise you know that he got over the next two years off his entry level contract and for the Rangers you tie up a guy that’s that absolutely needs to be an important part of your core because the arrow is pointing up with him and he’s the type guy that you want and on this team, on this roster, in this organization for all the right reasons. So good on him. So I think he needs to be in the top six. Now, here’s a thought about the lineup structure right now, because things are a little bit falling into place. You know, Cooley’s now signed. In fact, all their RFAs are signed. And of course, Miller was traded. So, you know, those pieces of business are in place. Rempe signed, Edstrom signed, Persson signed, you know, now Cooley signed. So it’s coming into focus of what, you know, the top twelve forwards or top thirteen, if you count your extra, what it’s looking like. The key question here, how it all shapes up. will be the decision on Mika Zibanejad, not whether or not he’s going to be here or not. He’s going to be here, okay? The question will be, does Mike Sullivan see him as a center or does Mike Sullivan see Zibanejad as a right wing? Now, we know last year he played his best hockey playing right wing on the line with JT Miller. Miller did the dirty stuff. Can you imagine if they had Cooley and Miller on the same line with Zibanejad? Listen, as much as we all get on Zibanejad for his laissez-faire approach sometimes to the all-around game, you know, if he’s on that line, he doesn’t need to do much dirty work if Miller and Cooley are his line mates, right? And that’s what we found out when he played with JT last year. But, you know, if you look at lineup construction, there is a big advantage to having Zibanejad stay in the middle too, right? And of course, that is that I believe Vincent Trocek then could slide down to be your three C because right now you do not have an automatic three C on this roster. So, you know, Taylor Radish is signed. I know he’s played some center, but he, you know, he’s a wing. But, you know, you have person in who the Rangers seem to really like. I’m not quite sold on him. I’m not sure for the identity of what I’d like to see my third line to be. I’m not sure Parson is the guy I want. You also have Johnny Brodzinski. He’s an option to be your third line center. I still believe as good as he is and what a spark plug he is, what a, you know, kind of a leader he is, especially for the younger guys that, you know, he played with in Hartford in the past. I still see Johnny Brodzinski as your thirteenth guy. And when you need him on the wing or you need him at center, he mixes in with no problem. I’m not sure that he’s your everyday, every game three C. So I’m not sure that three C is there unless it’s Vincent Trocek. That’s the role that they signed him to play several years ago, you know, along with the power play and the penalty kill being a key guy in those areas. And it, it really all changed because, you know, in his first season, but certainly his second season here in New York. You know, that’s when they were committing to Filip Hedl in the top six and Trocek started the season on that third line. That’s the way they were going to go with things. But then Hedl, of course, had the concussion, ten games in the season, missed the rest of the season, opened the door for Trocek. And of course, you know, that was the magical season with him and Panarin and Lafreniere. So I get the argument to keep that threesome together in the top six. But if you spread it out and if you look at it now and say, we really don’t have that center for the third line, you know, boy, Trocek would be a hell of a fit there. So Trocek, then, you know, let them jockey for whoever gets that, you know, the spots on the wing. You know, Brennan Hoffman, Brett Berard, you know, Radish, Brudzinski. You know, let them kind of jockey and figure it out. Perot. Maybe Perot or Rothman, they get a look then in the top six. If Mika is not playing on the wing, that opens up a spot on the wing. Maybe that gives one of the kids a chance higher up. But the key there might be the decision that Mike Sullivan makes with Mika Zibanejad. Is he a top six center? know a center in your top six forward group or is he a right wing on a line with trochek in the top six because then that changes your whole equation and I think throws the balance off I could argue it either way But you can tell I’m leaning towards liking having Trochak center that third line. So we’ll see. Could be more moves as well coming. You know, I don’t think so. Bigger picture, like if you really want to open things up, especially because, you know, I know it’s prospects development camp this week. And I saw Noah Laba was speaking with the reporters the other day. That’s a guy to keep an eye on. I don’t I don’t know. That, you know, he’d be ready to really contend for a spot on the opening night roster. But he’s an intriguing guy because he is solid two-way. He’s a two-hundred-foot player, wins face-offs, you know, penalty kill guy. And he’d be a hard-nosed guy, you know, in north-south player, you know. And he’s got some offensive skill as well. I know he just left college last year, three years at Colorado College. You probably want him to develop more at Hartford. I’m all for that. But I’m thinking bigger picture down the road. When you look through the organizational depth chart, Noah Lava might be that three C down the road. And boy, that’d be great. Again, more homegrown players on entry-level contracts that you have control over that can play in your lineup effectively. I’m not saying load the entire lineup that way. Again, I digress. But somebody was all over me on social media because I said, yeah, if Gabriel looks like he’s ready to play in training camp, don’t hold him back. Put him on the opening night roster. If he earns it, he’s got to earn it. Some guys, he’s killing me. Physically, he’s not ready. This, that, and the other thing. He needs seasoning in Hartford. I’m not against letting the prospects season in Hartford. You don’t think that Brendan Othman and Brett Berard, for example, didn’t gain so much from their experience down there? Of course they did. And of course, Perot would. And of course, Noah Labba will, you know, assuming he goes down. You know, and the other kids as well. Matt Rempe did. Rempe went back last season for a couple months. Did him wonders. Did wonders for his development as a hockey player. to go down to the AHL. So I get it. You don’t need to force guys onto the roster. And that’s what I was accused of. Oh, you’re just trying to force the kid on the roster. It’s all about the kids. What team full of kids ever raises the Stanley Cup? I’m paraphrasing what the guy said. I get it. But in the bigger picture, the more of these kids that can actually contribute to the success of the team at the NHL level, it is a good thing. That’s, that’s what winning teams do. You know, you don’t totally rely on free agency and the big money guys, you know, you develop them yourself. And of course that’s been the big, big bugaboo. We could go back to Keandre Miller, you know, development. Did they develop him well enough? Did they coach him up well enough? You know, is that, is that, is that the missing link here? Capo Caco. And well, Filipino is really more of an injury issue. But, you know, all these guys that they’ve moved on from, you know, you can get on the Rangers about their drafting. You can get on them about their development. It’s all fair. It’s all there. But anyway, so just some thoughts there about the lineup, where they could be headed, where the kids might fit in come September. And real quick thought again, you know, it’s prospects camp. The draft was last weekend as well. Rangers, you know, made the decision. I think we all agree the smart decision, you know, to they they gave the Penguins their number twelve overall pick in the first round that completed the JT Miller trade. The Rangers keep their first round pick in twenty twenty six. So now they have two first rounders in twenty twenty six. You know, I I think it was a good move. You know, it was the right thing to do. It was kind of funny, I might say, to see the Penguins and the Flyers then exchange that number twelve pick that the Rangers gave to the Penguins or sent to the Penguins because the Penguins and Flyers never make a trade. Right. We talk about the Rangers and Hurricanes. Yeah. What now? Making a trade for Keiondre Miller, what about those teams there? I know NHL players weren’t involved. It was just trading positions in the first round to select, trading picks. But kind of ironic that that’s where that number-twelve pick ended up kind of bouncing around the Metropolitan Division before the Flyers finally landed it. But that’s it. So the Rangers made eight picks in the second round. And we’re not going to break them all down again. I’ve got my breakdown over at forever blue shirts. And I know many of you have read it already, but just a quick thought on Malcolm Spence, who unfortunately was unable to get on the ice at development camp this week. Uh, he had an illness. I believe he’s present, but I know he wasn’t on ice at the development camp, which is a shame, but you’re heading to university of Michigan, really good program. Um, Everyone, everyone that I’ve reached out to in college hockey, in the scouting world, people who certainly know that are more draft gurus than I am for sure, right? You know, people that just know more about the prospects. I haven’t found one that doesn’t believe Malcolm Spence was a really good pick for the New York Rangers, right? Now, by really good pick, you know, we’re talking, you know, great value, number forty three overall. He ended up going in the second round. Most of those people, you know, kind of threw in the sidebar that, hey, listen, we’re not talking about the guy’s not going to be a superstar. But this is a guy that should be in the league for a decade once he gets here and be a reliable middle sixer. That’ll be physical. We’ll put up points that will be committed to playing a two hundred foot game, which we talked a lot about the type player that Chris Drury absolutely has been hunting for. Supposedly, that’s Malcolm Spence. That’s what the experts say Malcolm Spence is. And there are reasons why his stock fell and why he fell out of the first round. Many thought he was going to be a first round pick. You know, inconsistencies in his game, lapses in his game. But apparently he’s a great kid. You know, a leader, like one of those natural born leaders. I know he wore an A in Erie last season. Cool story that the guy who wore the C was Cary Terrence, who the Rangers got in the Chris Kreider trade. And now those two are reunited in the Rangers organization, you know, at development camp together. And Cary Terrence will go down. And he, you know, if he and Noah Lava are there at Hartford this year, assuming that should be the case, you know, they could be the number one and number two center, centering the top two lines. getting, you know, whatever, eighteen, nineteen, twenty minutes a night apiece. I mean, that is dream scenario for an organization that really was thin at the center position after, you know, after what they have in the NHL, you know, including Zibanejad. And that makes him a guy we never even mentioned who anchors the fourth line in Sam Kerr. So yeah, Kerry Terrence is a guy I’m excited to see more about. Again, a high character player, two-way player, maybe not a star producer offensively, but Spence is like that as well. The experts tend to think that he’s going to score. He’s going to be a guy that you want in your lineup. but he’s going to be a guy that helps you win in many, many different ways. So I think it’s pretty cool that the Rangers landed that type of player and that he fell to them. And, you know, you heard it. So many experts saying that he was the steel of the draft, or at least of the first couple rounds. Rangers drafted five defensemen. John Lilly of the Rangers explained that It wasn’t planned. It’s just how their draft boards fell. So many of their picks, once you get past the second round, and let’s say there are two picks in the third round, once you get past that, it’s a crapshoot. and you’re looking for intangibles, you’re looking for skillset, you’re projecting this player to fill out and get bigger. There are things that you kind of dream on, if you will, for those young players. And the Rangers have done a pretty good job in the lower echelons of the draft in recent years, plucking out and generating some pretty good prospects. You can argue they’ve had more trouble at the top end of the draft you know, than at the lower end in recent years. So I’m not discounting the guys that they got. And, you know, I look right here, I’m looking at my list. And the one guy who I heard the most about, again, from, again, people that know a lot more about the draft, especially Europeans, than I do, A lot of people really mentioned Nikala Eriksson, fourth round pick, center from Norway, as a guy to keep an eye on. Again, Rangers aren’t the deepest down the middle, you know, organizationally. Maybe Eriksson’s a guy that can, you know, fill in down the road, you know, fill in and, you know, become a player for them, you know, at that position, especially because, you know, it would be around the time that Zibanejad and, trochek and and miller are starting to you know age considerably in their mid-thirties with the rangers by time erickson you know would be a legit prospect for them um so anyway a lot of people brought up erickson to me I I saw a lot of praise more so online than anywhere else for evan passmore who was a late round pick by the rangers big defenseman uh played in the ontario hockey league Uh, you know, many believe that he was a guy that was going to go, you know, maybe a couple of rounds earlier than he did. So another guy to keep an eye on, but five defensemen, uh, three forwards, one center, one center among the three forwards, uh, is where the Rangers went. If nothing else, eight picks, they used them all. They didn’t trade any of them away, you know, restocking their prospect pool. Remember they had only nine draft picks. nine total in the previous two years so this really is an influx of of young talent and prospects into the organization so it’s been a busy busy time for the new york rangers to say the least uh I I think there’s a lot they can feel good about here uh you know to kind of put a bow on it I thought there was enough talent on this roster anyway, plus with Mike Sullivan coming in. The Rangers are definitely a playoff contender, right? I felt that anyway. Now, we’ll massage things. You’ve got to go over, well, what did Washington do? What did Carolina do? What did the Islanders do in comparison to the Rangers? How did the rosters stack up? But there’s nothing today that doesn’t make me believe that the Rangers aren’t a playoff contender. The one thing I will say, and I know some of the fans weren’t happy with me on social media when I put this out there, I’m not sure they’re a Stanley Cup contender, okay? Sure, things can sometimes break your way, but I really look ahead to next year’s trade deadline. And I really look ahead to next year’s off season. Cap really rises. Artemi Panarin’s contract will come off the books. Really curious to see what the Rangers do next year. To me, this was almost always going to be a bridge year for the New York Rangers. Let’s create some space. Let’s change the vibe a little bit with this team, the mojo with them, the makeup of the roster. But and certainly try and build a playoff team, but always with an eye to twenty twenty six. Let’s see what Chris Jury’s got to say. He’s going to meet with the media, I’m sure, this week. So when we regroup next week, we can go over what he said. And, you know, we’ll bring in a guest as well. So it’s not just my opinion, but we’ll play off each other and we’ll talk more about the Rangers. And we’ll see between now and then if there’s if there’s anything else that the Rangers come up with. So again, thanks for tuning in to the Rink Rap Podcast right here at Forever Blue Shirts. Make sure to check out our stories over at foreverblueshirts.com. Like and subscribe to the podcast and follow me on X at Jim Cerny or us on X at Forever Blue Shirts. Thanks for tuning in. Have yourself a great and safe Fourth of July weekend for those of you celebrating in the States. Cheers, we’ll catch you next week.

Dive into the latest New York Rangers action with Jim Cerny on the Rink Rap Podcast! We break down the blockbuster signing of Vladislav Gavrikov, the massive K’Andre Miller trade to Carolina, and the Rangers’ 2025 NHL Draft strategy. From prospect highlights like Malcolm Spence to roster changes under Chris Drury, we cover it all. Are the Rangers Stanley Cup contenders? Tune in for expert analysis and passionate fan reactions! Like, subscribe, and visit foreverblueshirts.com for more.

Keep up with New York Rangers news: https://www.foreverblueshirts.com

⏱Timecode:
00:00 – Intro: Welcome to Rink Rap Podcast
00:23 – Free Agency Overview: Chris Drury’s Big Moves
02:14 – Vladislav Gavrikov Signing: The Centerpiece
06:47 – Keiondre Miller Trade Breakdown
11:26 – Trade Analysis: Win-Win for Rangers & Hurricanes
13:57 – Scott Morrow: A New Defensive Prospect
14:44 – Zach Jones Departure to Buffalo
29:22 – Lineup Thoughts: Trocheck’s Role & Zibanejad’s Position
31:41 – Prospect Spotlight: Noah Laba’s Potential
36:59 – 2025 NHL Draft Recap: Malcolm Spence & More
42:43 – Rangers’ Playoff Outlook & 2026 Vision
44:29 – Closing: Follow Us & Happy 4th of July

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