Really terrible bottom 6. But Bourque for Nils makes sense.

Either replace Bourque with Dellandrea or replace Lundkvist with Schneider

Julien is moot. No interest in Radek. I would not rule out something including Bourque, but not this. I have a personnel bias about keeping Nils on board with the blueshirts. So I'll pass. If NYR was not saddled with the Trouba contract, Schneider would be my #2 RD.

This ☝️

Not sure what else they can do with the small amount of money they have. Its not a bottom 6 that will score much, but they’ll open things up for the top 6. A heavy 3rd line like that would punish other teams come playoff time. Also, Gustav wasnt a bad signing. Im not sure how much you know about the guy, but doubt he left more money to come to NY unless he was told he would have a good shot at making the roster. He’s another big body who will win face-offs and play good d. If we need more scoring, we have the deadline to address those needs. But when you have the best goalie in the world, scoring 4 goals a game isnt needed. The top 6 will score plenty with the defense and goalie we’ll have. And this team,imo, is built for the playoffs.

What type of player you looking for in a 3C? Radek plays a 200 foot game, wins face-offs and is 6”3” 220 lbs. he isnt a goal scorer, but put him with a guy like Goody and hope that VK can generate some offense. I understand the love for Nils, i dont wanna lose him either, but fact is Trouba isnt going anywhere. So we have no choice.

Ill admit i dont know enough about Dellandrea to refute what youre saying. But I doubt Schneider would be attainable. So we probably wouldnt be able to get Bourque.

For a second line center I want at least 50 pts of production. If money were no object, JT Miller or Vincent Trocheck. Given the $ crunch the NYRs are in, Yanni Gourde provides the production numbers, an improvement over Strome, and a cost, that while higher than Radek's, provides a better return on investment. To be clear, Yanni is a three year rental that plugs a gap that is financially doable for NY. I'm working on a Gourde scenario at this time. It's a work in progress but the trade I just entered was Chytil, Kakko and a 5th Rounder (if necessary) for Yanni. Don't know how it will turn out, but that is what I am currentl looking at.

That's an improvement over Strome on faceoffs.

Thats an awful trade for yanni imo. Just give up on Chytil after his playoff run? Its time to give these guys a shot, maybe we take a step back before we go all out in 23-24. I dont know, but i dont think Gourdi is the diff. Maker that gets us over the top. Kakko Fil and Laffy playing to their full potential does that, and no one else. And Faksa is a 200 foot player, big body, wins 55% of his face offs/plays great d and can play SH. And he’s in comparison. And we have him for 3 years. Right when the cap is supposed to explode. Perfect timing. If we need more scoring(how much do you honestl think with Shesty in net?) we go after it at the deadline with Nils the 23 1 or Kravtsov. Or Othemann. We have a lot of guys that are trade pieces still. Not just draft picks. We can fill the roster at the deadline again

We cant bring in anyone who is gonna continue to block the kids. Either the step up, or we will have to rebuild on the fly in a couple years when guys like zibs/krieder/panarin are no longer the core. We still will have a core of fox/key/Laffy/hopefully Fil and KK…..maybe Kravtsov, but that is such a long shot

My first choice is to retain Copp. Strome is not in the running, too expensive, a talks are far apart. I'm am with you on keeping the kid train going. I won't get into the particulars, but the Rangers need centers who can win faceoffs. Even If they appear to be a tad light on points. Take a look at Strome's numbers pre NYR. Then look at Strome with the Breadman (a.k.a The Breadman affect). Filip is not strong at the dot, but he strong and can ward off defenders. Long term, Filip is a LW in my view. But if the Rangers have to trade to fill the #2C slot, other clubs will be looking for Chytil, Kakko, Scneider, ....... and their are others. My post offered one possibility. But to be clear, my preference is to stay the course.