New York Rangers center Barclay Goodrow Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports

Rangers reportedly ready to trade Barclay Goodrow

Originally posted on NHL Trade Talk | Last updated 5/23/23

According to a few sources, the New York Rangers are apparently shopping Barclay Goodrow as part of a salary cap dump mandate this offseason. Unfortunately, it sounds like they’ll need to add a sweetener to make the deal work. The speculation is that it could cost the Rangers as much as a second- or third-round pick to dump him and the $3.64 million by four years remaining on his current contract.

Social media was flooded over the past 24 hours with potential landing spot ideas for Goodrow, with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks being among the early candidates. One thing is for certain, any team interested needs to be comfortable with the cost associated with his contract and the fact his production has never exceeded the 33-point mark over the course of his NHL career.

Salary cap space for the Rangers is at a premium. With a number of important RFAs to sign — young pieces such as Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller will be in need of new contracts — and uncertainty surrounding the futures of Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko as UFAs, there isn’t a lot of room to offer extensions if the team doesn’t clear out money first. The Athletic expects Goodrow to be one of the names the team is willing to sacrifice in order to lock up its young core for the future. Whether they’ll find a lot of takers is another story altogether.

Goodrow has won two Stanley Cups and plays a hard style of game that could make him a solid option as a long-term third-line center on a contending team. In Toronto, for example, if Ryan O’Reilly were to leave in free agency, Goodrow would be an intriguing name to watch.

One thing the Rangers don’t want to do is package a young star with Goodrow just to move him. The Athletic notes that they can’t see a scenario where the Rangers package Lafreniere with Goodrow just to move out Goodrow’s contract unless they got a good piece back as part of a bigger package.

Trading Goodrow is basically a salary dump, and the Rangers understand the return won’t be very good.

This article first appeared on NHL Trade Talk and was syndicated with permission.

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