Rangers player evaluations

To say that the rental of Drew Stafford, Antoine Vermette, Brooks Laich and Dainius Zubrus didn’t go well would be an understatement. How much of the fault for that is on Stafford/Zubrus/Vermette/Laich is debatable.

But the Rangers were the 7th best team in the East, and playing their best hockey of the entire season when the trade deadline came along. Rangers GM Martin Auzins and coach Dave Tippett, and their staffs, figured they had a shot — and perhaps with a better draw they may have — to make their first playoff run.

So Auzins traded prospects Jake DeBrusk, Joey LaLeggia, Elvis Merzlikins, along with AHL journeyman Eriah Hayes to the Edmonton Oilers to rent Stafford and prospects Ryan MacInnis, John Hayden and Ryan Gropp. Nobody thought Stafford was the last piece of a puzzle, just an upgrade to improve the Rangers’ chances.

Most of us saw him as a top-six forward upgrade.

Vermette's time as a Ranger had some highlights, such as the 2 goals and 2 assists in playoffs. His 59.0 faceoff percentage for the  was a Rangers best.

He remained, you could easily see, a high-quality guy, and you could also see that he has a high hockey IQ, with an ability to be effective on the penalty kill.

For the sake of discussion, lets pretend Laich won’t be back due to price, the Rangers will to fill his spot. Rangers must find a way to fill these roles, and for cheap.

Even if you don’t have Oscar Lindberg pegged as a center on your armchair roster, the club will need to fill his center spot. Dainius Zubrus potential departure also complicates matters.

Also departing are Brad Richards, Teddy Purcell, John Albert, Rod Pelley and Tom Sestito. Richards had the biggest impact of them as he was the first Captain the team had when EHE started. A pivot same say. Played both regular seasons fully, never missed a game but the playoffs were cut short by an injury and thats not the way Richie wanted to go out. A third line player at this stage but it was much more than on ice work. A Leader called by many.

Rangers are looking at a thin UFA pool and would like to bring Richards back but it remains to be seen if its a fit from both sides.