The New York Rangers will look to add some offense to their roster, and one trade pitch has them making a one-for-one blockbuster.
The website PuckPedia’s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Rangers acquire Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues.
Rangers acquire:
Blues acquire:
The proposed deal would be a blockbuster as New York would acquire a star forward while the Rangers would acquire a star defenseman they can build their blue line around.
New York would acquire Kyrou, who’s entering the third year of his eight-year, $65 million deal with the Blues. Kyrou could be a top-six forward for the Rangers and add some much-needed offense to the lineup. The 27-year-old recorded 36 goals and 34 assists for 70 points in 82 games.
In return, the Blues would acquire Miller, who’s a pending RFA and can be a top-four defenseman for St. Louis. Miller is 25 and made $3.872 million last season and will likely get a bit of a raise this offseason. Miller recorded 7 goals and 20 assists for 27 points in 74 games, but it was a down year as most of the Rangers’ players struggled.
Rangers Testing Trade Market for Miller
Miller is a pending RFA, and his name has come up in trade rumors.
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet revealed the Rangers are testing the market, but there is no guarantee he will be traded.
“It’s not a guarantee, but that they are testing the market on Miller,” NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts. “They want to know what it is. We’ll see where it goes. But his name is definitely out there.”
Meanwhile, NHL insider Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff named Miller as his 10th-ranked trade candidate this offseason.
“One of the biggest lingering questions for GM Chris Drury is the makeup and foundation of the Blueshirts’ blueline,” Seravalli wrote. “It’s no secret the Rangers have not defended well enough in front of Igor Shesterkin, and that spans multiple head coaches now. It’s on the personnel. Miller is just 25 and skates so effortlessly and efficiently, he should be part of the solution. But he’s also due a sizable raise and a contract that will have to buy UFA years. That’s expensive.”
Miller was drafted 22nd overall in 2018 by the Rangers.
Rangers Coach Has High Expectations for Team
New York failed to make the playoffs this season and fired coach Peter Laviolette.
The Rangers quickly hired Mike Sullivan, who won back-to-back Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017. Ahead of this season, Sullivan has high expectations for the team as he thinks New York can be a Cup contender.
“Having the ability to spend a decade with some of the people that I was able to work with there, some of the players I was able to coach there, I just think you take so much from those types of experiences,” Sullivan said. “I hope to bring those experiences here to New York that can help me be a better coach for this group of players, that can help us be as competitive as we can. We’re going to try to push these guys every day to maximize the potential that exists here, and we’ll see where that takes us.
“I know there’s a lot of talent in the dressing room, but as we all know talent alone doesn’t win championships. Teams win championships and I think that’s going to be our challenge from Day 1 is to become a team,” Sullivan added.
New York finished the season with a record of 39-36-7.
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