There was some interesting news that could have interested the New York Rangers when Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet recently said during an appearance on Buffalo’s WGR Sports Radio 550 that Chicago may be open to listening to trade offers for Dylan Strome, the brother of Ranger’s Ryan Strome. Could the Rangers be interested in adding the 23-year-old, especially since Friedman believes there will not be much cost to acquire him? It is definitely an intriguing thought.
Could Dylan Strome help the New York Rangers?
Even though his stats haven’t been as impressive in 2019-20, he’s been a major part of the Chicago Blackhawks’ lineup as their No. 2 center behind Jonathan Toews. If the Rangers would acquire him, he would more than likely be the third center behind his brother and Mika Zibanejad, unless he or his brother switch to a wing. His history suggests that he could be a formidable third-line center. Dylan Strome had 38 points (12 goals and 26 assists) in 58 games when the NHL season was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic. Strome was selected by Arizona with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2015 draft, but he didn’t make his NHL debut until playing seven games in the 2016-17 campaign. He played only 48 games for Arizona before being traded to Chicago in November of 2018. Combined with the 20 games he played for the Coyotes to open the 2018-19 season, he had 57 points (20 goals and 37 assists) over 78 total games.
Now the big question is, could the Rangers afford him, especially with the uncertainly of the salary cap for next season. Strome earned $832,500 each of the last four seasons, per Spotrac, so will most likely make more in the coming years. He is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason, so it’s possible the Blackhawks could be looking to trade him before losing him without getting anything back in return.
Ryan Strome had a twitter Q and A today, and while he did not or probably could not answer any questions related to this, he did respond to one question about whether he and his brothers are close he tweeted back: “Yeah really close. Fun to be chasing our childhood dreams at the same time.”(Younger brother Matthew is currently with the Reading Royals of the ECHL)
It is probably a longshot, but in the uncertainty of what has happened, and what may happen, one never knows.