Gotta replace Strome with Chytil or maybe Lundqvist if you want to get the convo started

I mean its not a terrible offer. Especially considering the rangers will probably not make the playoffs.

1st is a good start and Jones is a nice throw-in but Strome does little to nothing for us. That’s the issue.

If it's a deadline trade you are right. If it's now and you can flip Strome at the deadline, then it's fine.

You’re assuming Strome is still valuable by then - not saying it’s likely he won’t be but there’s a chance he regresses.

Addds unnecessary complications that aren’t gonna fly with moving our best player. Winning a Hertl trade is not a want, it’s a requirement otherwise there’s no benefit to trading him early.

There's still a benefit to trading Hertl early, it avoids the risk that he gets seriously injured which if the injury was season ending it'd make him worthless and moving Hertl early makes the Sharks worse which should improve their draft pick.

Yes but Hertl also could raise his stock, especially since Hertl is in a contract year; like a large majority of players, they pop off. Additionally if Hertl gets injured that’s life; and he could resign still with an injury possibly increasing those odds if there’s uncertainty around him hitting the market and what interest would garner if he’s injured. So since he’s already so close to the organization it could make a resign more likely.

Trading Hertl requires a sizeable return, and trading him before he has a chance to raise his stock would demand a overpay because if Hertl goes to NYR and puts up 60 points in 40 games than it’ll make the early move regrettable (especially if it’s this suggested trade).

We're set with Left D for the foreseeable future with Knyzhov, Kniazev, Ferraro and Hatakka so he doesn't make any sense in a Hertl trade. Strome does not work at all in this deal.

I agree, Chytil or Lundkvist have to be coming back in a Hertl trade. San Jose has to win a trade for Hertl and this isn't winning.

curious, what makes you think they will miss the playoffs?

He could be flipped. But yes it makes more sense to throw in a prospect instead.

Just the way i think the division and conference end up. There could be some bias here given im an islanders fan but i see the 2 wildcards 1 going to each division. BOS TBL FLA and TOR from the atlantic will all be better than nyr. CAR PHI NYI PIT imo are all going to be ahead of nyr in the metro with WSH probably as well and even NJD having a decent chance. I just think there are too many teams ahead of them rn for them to make the playoffs. They got worse this offseason even while bringing in GG.
Who is going to play RW1? Because kakko is certainly not a 1st line caliber player rn. Is the hope to move lafreniere over? Because hes never played RW before so idk how well he will do. Its also pretty risky to start screwing around with the development of a prospect as good as laf.
Will strome keep up the pace? This question was more prevalent last offseason but with his whole career not being very good, and now he has this ridiculous ppg over the last 2 seasons, i still dont know if he can do it again. (Although in this acgm it doesnt really matter).
Which shesterkin will we get this year? Will it be the 19-20 shesterkin that was making 40+ saves every game or the 20-21 goalie who was solid but nothing special.

cool - you said a lot of things but much of it is meaningless conjecture. you lost some credibility claiming NJ "has a decent chance", but counting out NYR.
to say they got worse is pretty ignorant - in my opinion they addressed team needs and got better - no longer rolling 4 lines of skill players. yes, they traded Buch, but until last season he was a RW2 - last year he had success, but he was also blocking one of KK or Kravtsov from playing top 6 minutes they deserve.
RW1 could be any combination of Laf, KK or Kravtsov. Laf's most productive hockey last season came when they played him with Mika on the top line at RW toward the end of the season.
Strome has 141 points in 189 games since his trade to NY - has gotten better every year, no reason to believe there will be regression.
Shesterkin had nearly identical numbers to Hellebuyck on a far worse team in a more difficult division playing in front of an offensive first team which was the youngest in the league, and $25M in dead cap. sure, they weren't as solid as his first season, but this shouldn't even be a discussion point.

the Rangers were 16th in the league in points last year.
top 10 in goals for and top 15 in goals against.
if it were a full season, they were certainly a bubble team, if not in the playoffs.

So here we go the classic my team is the best disregard every other team. Does NJD have a decent chance to be better than NYR? Sure. But of course the narrative that they suck will prevail.
As for me being ignorant saying they got worse, they added a bunch of bottom 6 players and lost a top line winger that the only replacement was pulling a guy out of position. Thats never a good idea. Will it work for them? Maybe idk, i cant know if it will or wont. But its certainly not an ideal plan.
You mention buch blocking kakko and kravtsov from top 6 minutes but heres the thing. On a contender, kakko and kravtsov arent your top 2 RWs. Ir would be a RW1, kakko, kravtsov. So you are telling me buch was blocking guys from minutes that they shouldnt be getting if your team is contending. And then youre telling me that your team is a contender. So make up your mind, its one or the other.
You said RW1 would be 1 of kakko, lafreniere, or kravtsov. None of those are an ideal RW1. Kakko and kravtsov are certainly not top line material, and lafreniere will be playing out of position. So like i said ⬆️ thats not an ideal plan whatsoever.
Like i said in my post before, the strome question isnt as big now as it was last offseason and isnt a big question at all rn. But the question still resides.
Hold up there on shesterkin bc a lot of your assumptions are very wrong. Hellebuyck had a league average year behind one of the worst defenses in the nhl. Shesterkin had a league average year behind one of the stronger defenses in the league. Very uncomparable. I love how you just threw in a sh*t ton of completely irrelevant information as if it would make your argument stronger. The youngest team means absolutely nothing to this conversation and 25m in dead cap is just plain false. Im also not sure what you mean by discussion point. I never said he was bad, i just said his season wasnt anything special. It was a solid average season, nothing wrong with that.
Those stats are very nice, 16th in points, top 10 in goals for and top 15 in goals against. Idk if they are accurate or not so ill just take your word for it bc it doesnt really make a difference. Out of all the teams i mentioned, tell me which ones they will finish ahead of?

never said the Rangers were the best, do i think they are better than the Devils - yes. most would agree with that very surface level statement.
the Rangers added a much needed 3rd line player and a couple 4th line players, which addressed a team need. they will no longer be rolling 4 lines of only skill style players - this doesn't work in the NHL.
the bottom 6 was a mess last year, this year it will be more cohesive.
guys like KK and Kravtsov don't normally excel playing 3rd and 4th line minutes in the NHL - doing that only suppresses their growth. are the Rangers putting some blind faith in their expectations, maybe a little but not a concerning level.
why is Strome even a question - nothing suggests he can't repeat the last 3 years of his career, especially with Panarin on his line - moot point.
you bring up Shesterkin as a discussion point of question - not sure why, he isn't an issue and hasn't been so far in his young career.
the irrelevant information is very important because if a "rebuilding" team can still finish in the top 16 in points, they are moving in the right direction. the dead cap was an exaggeration, it was more like $18M, but still a significant number.
the stats are nice, and telling - that's why i added them to the discussion.
i also never said they were a contender, i said they were a bubble team...

as for my opinion on who they will be fighting for a WC spot - PIT and PHI are toss ups in the Metro, I think BOS won't be as good as last year and FLA has a good team on paper but they struggle every year. i, by no means consider them a lock for a playoff spot, but you can't count them out all together - especially with the success they have had the past 2 years during a complete team rebuild.

They arent rebuilding anymore and havent been for a couple of years. They were supposed to be coming out of the rebuild 2 tears ago and still havent made the playoffs.
Never did i say KK and krav should play 3rd and 4th line minutes. But if you want to say the rangers are going to make the playoffs in the east, those cant be your top 2 RWs. Playing 2nd line and 3rd line respectively is where they should be.
Are the rangers better than the devils? Imo yes, i never said not. But to say i lose credibility because i said they have a decent chance to be better tban the rangers is crazy. They very much do have a decent chance to be better.
Actually this skill player thing only doesnt work in the playoffs. Its why edmonton is a good regular season team but not a good playoff team. The reason they got those guys is because the NYR front office completely overreacted to the tom wilson disaster from last year.
As for strome 3 years ago he was at .5ppg. Thats not 2C level at all. But like i said its not a very big concern.
Shesterkin isnt an issue or concern. He had a solid season. It wasnt bad it wasnt spectacular, it was average. Will he continue to get better? Imo yes. I think in a couple of years he will be looked at as a top 5 goalie. But rn thats not who he is. Again not saying hes bad, which you seem to think i am saying if i dont say hes the greatest to ever play.
Again the rangers arent rebuilding and they havent been for 2 years. So saying a rebuilding team being in the top half in the league is just misinformation.
You said the rangers are a bubble team not a contender. But you also said they will make the playoffs. With how strong the metro and the east is, you have to be a contender to say they will make the playoffs.
How PIT is a toss up i have no idea. Theyve consistently been better than the rangers for the past 5 years. PHI significantly improved their defense and carter hart isnt going to have a sub .900 sv%. Its not going to be close to that. Both teams are still clearly better than NYR when you look through the roster.
BOS is not as good as they were last year but they completely revamped their middle 6 and pasternak is going to be better. I really dont know how you can say that NYR is better than BOS.
And your worst take of the entire conversation is that FLA is only good on paper. I guess you must think finishing ahead of TBL in that division is bad. Plus FLA only got better in the offseason. Added reinhart and lundell will probably play this year, and hes my pick for the calder. Everyone has FLA at over 100 points this season. Both analytical models and people who rely a lot more on the eye test, like i do. If anything said in this thread makes someone lose credibility its what you said about FLA.

FWIW...the NYR are emerging from a rebuild...but aren't yet one of the 6 (or 7) Cup contenders....but reaching the playoffs is a reasonable prediction- even with Kakko and Krav as top 6 wingers. Keep in mind- a lot will have to go right for them to make the playoffs...but a lot will have to go right for any of the east conf bubble teams to make it....and I don't think it is unreasonable to expect the Rangers' new guys to step in and be productive, Strome to continue producing as he has, guys like Miller, Kakko, LaF, and Krav to take steps forward, Shesty to remain solid, and Zib to have a monster contract year. Now will this all happen? Maybe...or maybe not. But also is another year older for Pitt's and Caps' stars good to them- in a year with a compressed schedule? we'll see. PHI...do all the changes they made right the ship? Again...maybe- but just be aware PHI seems to be following the same path VAN and the Rangers took under AV. Can the NJD challenge? Got a real good collection of young talent...I just see Lindy Ruff holding that team back. In the Atlantic...BOS stars well into 30's- any slow down there yet? I'm not betting on that- but you have to consider. TBL- for sure not counting them out...but they lost their entire 3rd line. Does FL prove to be legit? Does TOR finally get it together? All I'm saying is almost every team has big questions to answer...and IMHO I think the Rangers can better answer their questions than some of the teams just mentioned.

Prediction: METRO:1. NYI, 2. CAR 3. PITT 4. NYR (wc) Atlantic: 1. FL, 2. TBL 3. TOR 4. BOS (wc)