Bergeron to Broadway

As the SHL calendar prepares to turn the page and mark the start of the craziest period of the offseason, the New York Rangers apparently weren’t willing to wait around. GM Todd Westacott announced that the Rangers had struck a deal with the SHL Champion Toronto Maple Leafs sending the UFA rights for Evander Kane along with Owen Tippett and Dmitry Orlov to Toronto in exchange for Patrice Bergeron and Matthew Dumba.

Although we would have loved to bring Evander Kane back, we felt as an organization that the UFA market will be very high for him. Patrice Bergeron is a one of a kind player. Bringing him in to go with Zibanejad gives us an extremely talented and unique 1-2 punch up the middle that we feel will go along way in our mission to win a championship.

The Rangers currently project their top 6 forward group to include Bergeron, Zibanejad, Connor, Tkachuk, Duchene and Malkin with a top four on the backend of Ekblad, Chariot, Shattenkirk and Dumba. When asked what this does to the Rangers UFA plans GM Todd Westacott had this to say

I’ve always stated from the beginning that the goal here is to win. Not just this year but multiple years. We are always looking for opportunities to improve and we will continue to explore all avenues. The Rangers are not done.

With an impressive top 6 forward group, a very respectable top 4 on the backend and Sorokin slated to start in net, the question in New York now turns to the salary cap and how they plan to fill out the bottom 6 forward, bottom pairing defense and a backup goalie with limited cap space left.

As I mentioned earlier…. we aren’t done. There is still a lot of work to be completed to round out our roster within the salary cap. We intend to be very active throughout UFA looking for opportunities to improve our club and are currently engaged with numerous different teams about various options to fill the holes we still or upgrade further in the areas we seem to be set.

Noticeably absent from the core lineup mentioned in the press release was the core group of young talent the fanbase has been eagerly waiting to see.

The best part about the work we have done here, is that we haven’t sacrificed the core youth pieces who are waiting in the wings. The Lundell’s, Boldy’s, Newhook’s, Podklozin’s and more are all still waiting in the wings and available to us when we feel the time is right. It is a possibility some of those names might get called upon at some point this season in a bottom six role or to fill in for an injury. The bottom line is that their future is still here in New York and we don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon.

Westacott also addressed the rumours swirling around Martin Necas, Jordan Kyrou and Eugeni Malkin.

Again…. We will consider any and all options that give us the best chance to win a championship not just this year but multiple years. There are still more moves to be made this offseason and we will evaluate all options and choose the ones that give us the best chance to achieve our goal of building a dynasty in New York.

One thing is for sure…. with the addition of Patrice Bergeron to the lineup and if they can plug those remaining holes within the salary cap…. the Rangers on paper are starting to look like a force to be reckoned with this upcoming season. There is no doubt now that GM Todd Westacott and his Rangers are all in on this season.