Looks Like The Rangers Will Be Trading Zuccarello
Katie Strang of ESPN just tweeted that “As it currently stands, looks more like that Rangers F Mts Zuccarello will be traded than re-signed. Teams have been told that he’s available”. Katie Strang is an excellent reporter and a Rangers fan, so if she’s tweeting it, I’m going to assume it’s true. It looks like Zucc won’t be wearing blue by Monday.
Obviously, Rangers fans are going to take this hard. Zucc has developed great chemistry with the rest of the team, is a fan favorite, and has been playing awesome. But this is a business, Mats Zuccarello’s open-market value is more than the $3.5 million he’s getting paid this season, and the Rangers aren’t willing to put more than that into him. Either that, or they’re floating these rumors to bully him into a hometown discount at the end of the season. Plenty of teams are going to be interested in Zucc. He’s a great locker room presence, fantastic possession guy, and deadly goal scorer, especially when he goes on one of those little 5-game tears that he seems to every couple of months. I’ll miss seeing him zip around the ice like a remote-controlled race car and scrapping guys who are a full third-grader taller than him.
If the Rangers are trying to clear cap space at the end of this season however, it does fit nicely in with the Tyler Bozak rumors that have been circulating around Rangers twitter/the blogosphere. Trading Zucc gives the needed cap space to take on Bozak’s contract this year and the next, and allows you to slide Hayes back to the wing with Tyler at the dot. I’ve been waving the “Get Bozak” flag all year, so while I know some Rangers fans are hesitant about his advanced stats numbers in Toronto right now, I’d be excited to get him.
The one thing I don’t want to see happen is Zucc be traded as a rental to a contender who can bite us in the ass come playoff time. I’ve already had my heart ripped out by Marian Gaborik by seeing him hoist the Cup for the Kings last year and be their most valuable scorer (sorry, I’m going to step away from my laptop to vomit quickly).
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And I don’t want to see that again. In a perfect world, Zucc would go to someone like the Florida Panthers trying to make a playoff push, or maybe as the start of a nucleus for a team on a rebuilding plan (Senators?). I guess we’ll find out in a few days. Fare thee well Zucc. You were an awesome and likable Ranger, and I wish you the best of luck in your future career. Definitely a round-of-applause guy for his next return to the Garden.
Now go get me my 2nd-line Center, Sather.
Follow me on twitter @CharlieWisco for tweets about the NHL Trade Deadline and House of Cards. Also, the Barstool Hockey Podcast is being recorded early next week, so send in any questions/thoughts you may have for that.