Want to make your brain hurt a little? Try to narrow down the New York Rangers’ forward group to a mere 12 after the whip-smart signing of Brandon Pirri became official.
To start, you have the obvious guys: Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes. Then you add new arrivals in Pirri, Jimmy Vesey, Nathan Gerbe, Michael Grabner and Josh Jooris.
The list above includes 12 mostly-viable options and we haven’t even discussed the likes of Oscar Lindberg, Jesper Fast and fringe types such as Tanner Glass.
Throw in prospects such as Pavel Buchnevich and Marek Hrivik and ... well, it sure becomes such a strength that things feel pretty crowded after some reflection.
Blueshirt Banter makes a strong case that something has to give; they believe that Pirri’s signing points to a possible trade. Maybe even a significant, multi-part one:
And this is where things get interesting. The Rangers are still floating around the Kevin Shattenkirk rumors, and the persistent Rick Nash speculation isn’t going anywhere, either.
It’s something that Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman apparently pointed to.
Elliot Friedman on NHL network when asked if the Rangers have something bigger lined up: "Jeff Gorton has his hands in a lot of things(cont)
— john (@donjundon29) August 25, 2016
Are the Rangers still going to make moves? Elliotte Friedman addresses on NHL Network #NYR… https://t.co/32AlDbtQZh pic.twitter.com/q6gkzBrbkr
— Forever Blueshirts (@4EverBlueshirts) August 26, 2016
Well, isn’t that interesting.
General Fanager puts the Rangers’ jam-packed roster about $1.4 million under the salary cap ceiling as of this moment.
With that in mind, Rangers GM Jeff Gorton probably isn’t in a desperate situation to move someone - whether it be a big name such as Nash or not - but New York might amass enough forward pieces to jar a quality defenseman loose
Even as is, the team sure looks more formidable now than it did entering the off-season. Forward depth was one of the strengths of the group that made it to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final (recall useful supporting cast members including Benoit Pouliot), so maybe Alain Vigneault would really excel with another deep group?
Vacation-mode is just about over, so perhaps the Rangers have something interesting up their sleeves? It’s a reasonable question to ask.