The New York Rangers took on the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. The Blueshirts ultimately won that series in six games, but their season came to a disappointing end in the following round. Two major flaws in New York’s lineup were exposed, the first-line right wing and a top-two defenseman. But could the Rangers’ previous enemy hand them the answer to their problems?
The Rangers could trade for the rights to sign Martin Necas
Carolina winger Martin Necas had himself quite a season, tallying 24 goals and 53 points through 77 games played. He’s currently a restricted free agent heading into this offseason, meaning the Hurricanes control his destiny moving forward. They could either re-sign their star winger or trade his signing rights heading into the summer.
There’s no reason why the Rangers shouldn’t be interested in Necas this offseason. Not only do they need a new winger to play alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, but his abilities on special teams would also be a welcome addition to the Blueshirts’ roster.
The only problem would be convincing Carolina to trade one of their better forwards to a divisional rival. It would likely take a high-end prospect and a regular NHL player such as Kaapo Kakko to get the deal done, but it would likely be worth it to plug up one of the Rangers’ biggest holes on their roster.
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Brett Pesce is a defensive UFA the Rangers could target
Brett Pesce, one of Carolina’s better defensemen, is an upcoming unrestricted free agent this summer. With many of New York’s defensive players becoming borderline unplayable throughout the 2024 postseason, a new addition to their defensive corps is needed.
Unlike Necas, all the Rangers would need to do to acquire Pesce is hand him a contract offer. The 29-year-old is a veteran player but still has a few good years left in him. Pairing him with superstar Adam Fox seems ideal with Ryan Lindgren’s future in the air, giving the Hurricanes the possibility to hand the Rangers two key players moving forward.