The wait and speculation is finally over as the New York
Rangers have pulled the trigger on a trade to bring Bryan McCabe into the
fold. TSN’s Bob McKenzie was the first I
saw with the details, but Darren Dreger
was the first to confirm that it will be Bryan McCabe to New York for Tim
Kennedy and a 2011 3rd round draft pick.
I have been on the fence about giving up assets for McCabe, but at this
price the move had to be made as Kennedy has no future with the Rangers and the
ability to keep their top three draft pick (one first, two seconds) this year
makes this a no brainer move for Sather.
McCabe, 35, has five goals and 17 assists in 48 games this
season. He will bring a veteran
presence, experience, a big shot and added toughness to a young and emerging
defense corps. He should help with the Rangers power play as well given his experience on the point and his quality shot. He is not the type of player at this stage of his career to put a team over the top, but at this price point what he brings is more than worth it to the team. He is an unrestricted
free agent this summer and in the final year of his contract earning $5.75
million dollars.
Now that the Rangers were able to add McCabe without giving
up a defender in the trade the question becomes, what is the Rangers next
move? They could look to trade someone
like Gilroy or Eminger before the deadline for draft picks or a prospect. They look to move Michael Del Zotto in a
trade for a big piece, such as a top line center. They could also send Del Zotto back down to minors
to get more time. There are a lot of
options for Rangers’ GM Glen Sather and company to sort through over the next
48 hours until the deadline, but a lot of those options might depend on the
knee of Rangers defender Marc Staal as well.
Temporary answer o which option Rangers will choose has come in: Del Zotto Sent Down; Is He On Trade Block?
Great work by Sather once again in the trade market.
