Despite the positive offseason, the Rangers are still transitioning their core this season and are looking like a wild card team at best. While the worst case scenario–another lottery pick finish–isn’t as likely this season, it’s still something we can’t ignore. Beyond this season, the Rangers do need to finish that transition to Cup contender. To make this a successful retool, Chris Drury has 2 big tests coming up: What he does with both Will Cuylle and Braden Schneider.
I was going to include Gabe Perreault’s extension, but Dave did that already.
Cuylle and Schneider are both young players who have succeeded and will stick in the NHL for a long time. They are cost controlled for now, and both have played big minutes for the Rangers. Though admittedly, the level of success does vary based on who you talk to.
That’s the good stuff. What some may not like to hear is that both Cuylle and Schneider are both highly replaceable hockey players who could demand for more money than they deserve. Schneider’s current one year contract is evidence of this shift as the cap continues to grow.
Cuylle is a big hitting forward who will score some goals, but will likely peak as a 50-point player. That’s very good and very useful! Though it needs to be at the right price, and Cuylle is on the verge of a pretty expensive contract. Cuylle struggled last season when asked to be a top six forward. If you’re paying your third line forward the big bucks, you’re going to soon wonder where your money went.
Braden Schneider is in a similar position. Schneider has been bumped down the depth chart by the acquisition of Sean Durzi, which should be welcomed news for Rangers fans. Durzi is a strong puck moving defenseman, whereas Schneider has the reputation of potentially maybe sort of being a strong defenseman. It feels as if Schneider has a lot of buzz around his name because he was once a strong prospect, but he has shown very little in his NHL time. His big opportunity to play top pair minutes was met with significant struggles while paired with Vlad Gavrikov last season.
Much of the conversation has been about trading Schneider, and that still holds true. His current one year deal is likely quite appetizing for most acquiring teams as the Rangers look to capitalize on his perceived value. But potentially trading Cuylle has not been a big topic, likely because it’s unpopular. New York has a plethora of third line options, and there’s some value in potentially leveraging him to add a significant scoring piece to the core. That’s a much harder sell than leveraging Schneider for the same return, but Cuylle should not be considered untouchable.
Of course it will come down to where the Rangers are in the standings, but even then, I’d argue neither player brings enough to the NHL roster that makes them irreplaceable. When you have a young player with a reputation stronger than their actual potential, it’s a good idea to get the most value out of them. That’s been the argument for trading Schneider. It’s not popular, but it’s the argument for trading Cuylle too.
Can Chris Drury do that?
Time will tell.
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