Yesterday we saw a fairly big NHL trade that caught the eye of many in the league: The New York Rangers swapped Derick Brassard and a 2018 7th round pick with the Ottawa Senators for Mika Zibanejad and a 2018 2nd round pick. Brassard is coming off a career year in which he notched 28 goals and 62 points. Meanwhile, Zibanejad scored 21 goals and 30 assists, racking up a total of 51 points. The contract situation should favor the Rangers, as Brassards $5 million yearly contract, which finishes up in 2019, is a nice trade off to Zibanejad’s $2.625 million next year.
Being a huge New York Rangers fan, I will do my best to look at both sides but here’s my take: the Rangers got the upper hand. While New York will absolutely miss Brassard’s leadership, chemistry with certain players, and overall skill, this is a trade they easily accept. Mika Zibanejad is a young player who has a fantastic ceiling of growth, and he’s shown great promise, improving in goals, assists, and points every year.
What this trade boils down to is the current priorities of each team. The Rangers, whose Stanley Cup window sadly seems to be closing, got much younger (Brassard’s 28, Zibanejad’s 23), while also not taking a big hit in the offensive areas. Plus, they can now free up cap space to resign Kreider, Hayes, or make any other moves they have up their sleeve. The key here seems to be if the Rangers can retain Mika after this year, when he becomes a restricted free agent. This move puzzled me a bit from Ottawa’s perspective, as they were not a playoff team last year, and getting older wont help them in the long term. However, if making the playoffs right now is their main goal, this is a move that makes sense, as Brassard is a proven player in the prime of his career who can produce on big stages under immense pressure.
In the end, the Rangers will miss Derick immensely, a fan favorite who is one of the few who seemed to thrive while playing in the pressure of New York City. Ottawa, on the other hand, will say goodbye to an improving player with high potential. Ultimately, both fan-bases should be excited to see what next year has in store for their new skaters.
