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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterJul 1, 2024, 04:25 PM ET
CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
To suggest the Metropolitan Division has been busy this summer might be a bit of an undersell.
The Washington Capitals continued their aggressive offseason by trading for Jakob Chychrun, signing Brandon Duhaime and signing Matt Roy. The New Jersey Devils signed Brenden Dillon and Brett Pesce after trading for Jacob Markstrom. The Columbus Blue Jackets reunited Johnny Gaudreau with his former Calgary Flames teammate Sean Monahan. The New York Islanders signed Anthony Duclair in free agency, while Matvei Michkov signed his entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers got in on the action on Monday. The Penguins traded forward Reilly Smith to the Rangers, in exchange for a 2025 conditional fifth-round pick and a second-round pick in 2027. The Penguins will retain 25% of Smith’s salary, while the 2025 pick will be the worse of the Rangers’ or the Minnesota Wild’s.
Which GM did better in the swap? Here are our grades for both teams.
For the Rangers, this was about making an addition to their roster, with the caveat they still have other financial considerations to make now and in the future.
The Rangers are in a championship window, and are about to reach that stage in which cap space becomes even more difficult to manage. Both Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider are restricted free agents this summer, which meant there was some, but not much, flexibility.
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Next offseason gets more difficult, when the Rangers have seven RFAs, including Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller. That’s also the same offseason in which Igor Shesterkin will be an unrestricted free agent.
It’s what made going after Smith a bit of a responsible play. He has one year left on his contract before he hits the open market, and his salary cap hit fits within what the Rangers can achieve now. He also has extensive postseason…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/insider/story/_/id/40475150/nhl-trade-grade-2024-reilly-smith-rangers-penguins-draft-picks
Author : Ryan S. Clark
Publish date : 2024-07-01 21:25:55
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