I give it a B. If you look at the deals individually, they range from OK to good in terms of value. Copp was expensive to acquire, but I would consider that the market price rather than an overpayment.
But I give it a B mainly because bringing in 4 pending UFAs doesn’t do that much for this team. This team is looking at its first playoff appearance in 4 years. It still has some hard lessons to learn before it can go on a real run. Adding 4 rentals isn’t going to change that.
And while we are giving up mostly insignificant assets in these trades, those assets add up and affect your pipeline down the road. Going into a draft with 4 picks total and 1 in the first 3 rounds makes it harder to have talent in the pipeline to replenish the team when the rentals are long gone. I would have preferred adding 1 or 2 players rather than 4.
This is a fair take. But let's not forget they're also sitting on a treasure trove of younger prospects they could easily convert back to multiple draft picks per player Drury truly wanted to.
It would be one thing if the Rangers were leaving the cabinet dry. But it's still pretty stocked with assets.
This is Drury spending rather conservatively to give guys like Zibanejad, Panarin, and Kreider a shot at a playoff run in their prime years, and also give the younger players of the team a taste of what it takes to make a run at the playoffs.
I do think it's better for players like Kakko and Laf to
fight for their ice time during a very competitive playoff environment against an influx of more experienced players on their team. That alone is could force them to develop faster. I want to see those two assertively take control of their positions to stay in the top 6 rather than lose that time to Copp and Vatrano.
The one thing I don't like is if they decide to sit Schneider in the postseason. Let that kid make mistakes and roll with it.
