The New York Rangers acted quicker than many may have expected to get Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues but he is already making an impact.
Just minutes into the 31-year-old’s debut on Broadway, the Russian native tallied his first goal with his new team.
While Tarasenko will need some time to adapt to a new system, it certainly helps playing with other star players in Mika Zibanejad and fellow countryman Artemi Panarin.
The trade that sent the Rangers Tarasenko in exchange for multiple draft picks also included a much-needed third-pairing defenseman in Niko Mikkola.
The good news with acting so quickly is not only because gives the new players a longer time to adapt before games really start to matter in the postseason, but it also alows the organization to see if there’s any other glaring holes in the roster before the trade deadline.
And that’s what general Chris Drury will be evaluating now until March 3.
The trade has resulted in head coach Gerard Gallant shuffling around his lines.
This includes moving Barclay Goodrow down to the 4th line and giving winger Vitali Kravtsov another shot to play inside the top six.
Drury in particular was asked if he would make an acquisition that would bolster the 4th line, which has struggled this year.
“We’re certainly still looking at ways to improve the group… I can see your point about that area and it’ll be one we look at for sure, as well as a few others and see what we can do between now and the deadline,” he said.
If Goodrow works out as the 4th line center then the Rangers could make a move to acquire a 4th line winger.
If that’s the case, the move that might make the most sense is bringing back Tyler Motte, who fit in well with the team during its playoff run last year.
However, the Ranger’s salary cap situation made it difficult to bring him back.
While he signed with the Ottawa Senators for one year at $1.35 million, the team will likely be shopping him at the trade deadline.
The cost? It would probably take a mid-to-late-round draft pick. In fact, the Rangers were able to snag Motte at last year’s deadline for a 4th round pick.
The Rangers are projected to have around $1.6 million in cap space at the deadline, according to CapFriendly.
But the hard part for the Rangers is over, now it’s about filling in small holes to boost the team’s chances at winning.
The Rangers rank third in the Metropolitan division currently and it would take a monumental collapse to miss the playoffs.
