NY Rangers Should Still Be Focused on Trading Key Veteran

Which veteran should the New York Rangers be looking to trade?

Jan 14, 2021; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers players huddle around the center ice logo as they prepare for the home opener against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden. / Pool Photo-Imagn Images

With the NHL Draft coming to a close and free agency set to begin on July 1st, the New York Rangers still have a lot of work to do this offseason. 

Coming into the summer, the Rangers were a team that was expected to be aggressive, and that has been the case. New York has been involved to some degree with numerous trade targets. 

During the first round of the NHL Draft, they were able to make their splash with the addition of Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights. The talented 25-year-old scored 37 goals last year, and it was his second straight campaign reaching the 30-goal mark. 

Scoring help was a massive need for the Rangers, and the talented Dorofeyev will help improve that significantly. While that addition was a major splash for the team, they do still have some work to do. 

Coming off a last-place finish, New York clearly has some work to do, but the team also still has a couple of notable players who were expected to be traded this summer, but nothing has come to fruition yet. 

Rangers Should Still Move Vincent Trocheck 

Apr 5, 2026; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers center Vincent Trocheck (16) skates against the Washington Capitals during the second period at Madison Square Garden. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

With the addition of Dorofeyev and Albert Smits with the fifth overall pick, New York is certainly a better team than they were before the NHL Draft. These were two big needs that were addressed for the team, and now they will start to plan what’s next. 

Even after locking up Dorofeyev to a long-term deal, the Rangers still have about $15 million in cap space to use on free agents. This will present them with a good opportunity to add some depth to their team, and it will be interesting to see what the plan of attack is going to be. 

While New York should be aggressive in free agency, they also have a couple of good trade assets in Trocheck and Braden Schneider that somewhat surprisingly weren’t moved at the draft. 

For Trocheck, he figures to be one of the best potential trade targets available, and the Rangers should be able to receive a strong package from him. While teams wait to see what happens with Dylan Larkin, that could perhaps be the hold-up. 

Even though the Rangers improved for next year, they still should be thinking about the future. This isn’t a team that would really be able to compete even with Trocheck, and moving him for a draft pick and a young player could do wonders for the team long-term.