I ask this question of Rangers fans as it seems like most of us are going crazy about the fact that he has not been signed yet. Now I am a huge Staal fan and realize he is one of the best players and greatest assets we hold as a team. But that is just it, most teams would love and need a player of his caliber on defense. Now I am not saying trade him for nothing or some good prospects but for some players like Staal who have proven they can play at the NHL level. If ten minutes after I publish this he gets signed then I wont be upset but if a trade like what I am about to propose happens then I won't be upset either.
1. Dallas trades Richards and Neal to the Rangers for Staal, Roszival, Boyle, Bourque, Chad Johnson and Werek.
Brad Richards: While it seems as if we are giving up a lot in this trade, I don't really see it. We are receiving a legitimate first line center which most fans agree is our biggest need at the moment. Richards is not some maybe first line center or a could be first line center, he is a first line center. not only that but he won a Stanley Cup under our current Coach John Tortorella and loved playing in his system that he still implements today. He was one of the main fixtures on the '03-'04 Tampa Bay Lighting team that won, averaging a point per game with 79 points in 82 regular season games and 26 points in 23 playoff games. He is also a work horse who in 9 seasons has had five full 82 game seasons and also two 80 game seasons. Only one season has had missed significant time and that was the 2008-2009 season where he only played in 55 games due to a broken wrist. He is also coming off one of his best seasons ever with 91 points during the 2009-2010 campaign which was good for seventh in the league in points. Dallas is also looking to dump salary and probably will not be able to keep Richards after this season and could get something for him now while they still have him. Richards is the perfect Center to play with Gabby as he likes to carry the puck and make the perfect pass to the open sniper and Gabby is very good at finding the open ice without the puck. He is also very good friends with the other piece of the trade James Neal as they room together with the Stars.
James Neal: Neal is a 22 year old(23 in September) RFA that Dallas is also having some of the troubles that we are with Staal and most likely would not trade but with the trade I showed above I could see them moving him. Last year was only his second NHL season and first full season and managed to put together a 28 goal season on a relatively bad team. He is exactly what the Rangers need in a big power forward with plenty of skill. With this trade I could personally guarantee that Rangers fans will not have to worry about secondary scoring again in the near future.
What the Rangers give up: This is the only part of the trade that people might disagree with but that is why I am here to explain why it should be done. Yes we are giving up one of our best players(which we do not have many of) and some good prospects but to get something you need to give up something. Here is a list of reasons this trade should be done:
1. Under Tortorella we play an offensive system without any other threats besides Gaborik and yes the newly acquired Frolov. Lets get some offense in here.
2. Is our defense with Staal even that great anyway? Yeah we were 9th in goals against but we all know that is mainly because of Lundqvist who is one of the best goalies in the league.
3. When Tortorella and Richards won the cup in Tampa they put alot of the pressure on Khababulian and we can do the same with Hank but at least now we will have the offense to fight back.
4. We lose Rozi and his terrible contract and in my book that is a plus and not a loss. Yeah he played well down the stretch but alot of that was with Staal who in this trade will be gone so we get the extra $5M(even though it will be spent on Neal)
5. We send Redden down because it would be the ONLY way at this point to sign Neal and have Richards.
6. Sather might have already burned the bridge with Staal and after this next contract Staal might leave anyway and say "screw you for making me wait for my contract while some bum gets $6.5M"(it is very possible)
7. The Rangers greatest depth is at the defence men position. We have McDonaugh, Sauer, McIlrath, Pashnin, Gilroy, Del Zotto and others.
8. We do not need Johnson as we have Hank and I would rather have a solid veteran backup behind him like Biron.
9. Yeah we might be able to use Callahan or Dubinsky or some other way to make this trade happen but we would most likely have to give up more and it would be harder to fit in the cap space.
So I know even with this explanation many Rangers fans will not want to trade Staal but if you look at the lineup it would give us I think it makes us a ten times better team then we are now and most teams would not be able to keep up with our dynamic offense. Yeah are defense might got run over but that is why we are paying a goalie $6+M to shut them down. Also if this trade happens I would bring Paul Mara back on a 1 or 2 year deal to full out our D position. I gave Neal a 4yr $18M contract because I believe thats what he would get and he is worth it!
This would be our lineup and Salary situation per CapGeek!
FORWARDS:
James Neal ($4.500m) / Brad Richards ($7.800m) / Marian Gaborik ($7.500m)
Brandon Dubinsky ($1.850m) / Vaclav Prospal ($2.100m) / Alexander Frolov ($3.000m)
Sean Avery ($1.937m) / Artem Anisimov ($0.821m) / Ryan Callahan ($2.300m)
Brandon Prust ($0.800m) / Erik Christensen ($0.925m) / Chris Drury ($7.050m) /
Derek Boogaard ($1.625m)
DEFENSEMEN:
Daniel Girardi ($3.325m) / Paul Mara ($1.500m)
Matt Gilroy ($1.750m) / Michael Del Zotto ($1.087m)
Steve Eminger ($1.125m) / Ryan McDonagh ($1.300m)
GOALTENDERS:
Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875m)
Martin Biron ($0.875m)
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (these totals are compiled using the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $59,400,000;
CAP PAYROLL: $60,046,667;
BONUSES: $1,737,500
CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $1,090,833
Final Note: Yeah this defense might get assaulted but our D is not very good right now and our offense would crush most teams. This team is for sure a playoff team in the eastern conference and maybe even more then just that!!!
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