The most supportive action the Rangers organisation could take right now would be to trade Filip Chytil to the Jets in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois.
When he is ready to become an absolute free agency in two years, Dubois has informed the Jets that he will leave Winnipeg.
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Since the centre is soon to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights and a starting qualifying offer of $6.5 million, management is therefore looking to trade him.
According to the news, the Blueshirts and Jets have discussed Dubois. However, I think it’s much more likely that Kevin Cheveldayoff, the general manager of Winnipeg, made the initial contact rather than Chris Drury, the general manager of the New York Rangers.
Drury’s roughly 14-month tenure has also made it plain that he might check in on pretty much everyone who could be available. He is not special because of that.
The Blueshirts would be interested in Dubois since he fits the bill as a player. He is only 24 years old and has long filled Mika Zibanejad’s spot as the second centre.
In Columbus in 2017–18 and 2018–19, he served as Artemi Panarin’s primary centre.
But unless Dubois, who can likely earn a seven-year deal worth more than $ 50 million on the market, is ready to accept a significant reduction.
How the Rangers would squeeze him in under the cap is beyond me.
They might be able to get by this season if they pare down their roster and play a few AHL-NHL tweeners behind their star players.
But what about moving forward with second contracts that might be worth a combined $10 million to $12 million for K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere that are both due next summer?
The Rangers could only eliminate Chytil’s $ 2.3 million cap hit from the books by including him in the trade package with the Jets, which would free up roster space for Dubois in 2022–2023.
It makes sense that the Jets would be interested in Chytil if they were moving a centre.
Chytil’s eye-opening playoff performance should have everyone interested after he tied Chris Kreider for the team lead in five-on-five goals with six, led the Rangers in five-on-five goals per six minutes, finished second to Zibanejad in five-on-five points per six minutes, and tied for second among forwards in goals-for percentage at five-five, just behind Kaapo (Healthy Scratch) Kakko.
It’s possible that this was more of a flash than a breakout. Chytil isn’t your average dispatcher. But throughout the competition, his confidence soared.
He might contribute physically. However, Dubois has been below 50% in each of his six seasons and his 45.7 success rate over the past two years is significantly better than Chytil’s 43.0. He does, of course, need to improve his work at the dots.
But isn’t it the ideal moment for the Rangers to learn everything there is to know about their 2017 21st overall pick?
The Rangers could use some output from a player making less than $6.5 million this year, don’t you think?
Dubois, who stands at 6-foot-3 and weighs 218 pounds, is more active than Chytil. Although Chytil, new linemates Kakko and Lafreniere, and the Blueshirts as a whole comprised the most successful forechecking unit in the playoffs, Chytil was particularly effective under the hash markers.
Dubois is going to be acquired by someone as a good player. The Jets will receive a respectable return for him.
But that squad will also be adding a player who’s never really lived up to expectations and who will be signing his first professional long-term, high-paying contract.
This might make sense at another time. But now, with the consequences of the cap being so clear and Chytil on the verge of proving what he is capable of, it would make absolutely no sense.
except when one considers the fact that this is how the organisation has typically handled matters.
It would be a classic Rangers scene.
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