Rangers Get a Massive Favor from Sharks After Barclay Goodrow Waiver Claim

The New York Rangers pulled off the first big move of the offseason, offloading veteran forward Barclay Goodrow to the San Jose Sharks via waivers on Wednesday.

Goodrow is heading into year four of a six-year contract with a $3,641,667 cap hit. Though Goodrow owns a 15-team no-trade clause, such a clause does not apply to waivers. If Goodrow had the Sharks on his list, it's a brilliant workaround by Rangers general manager Chris Drury.

The Rangers' signing of Goodrow was ill-informed from the start. It is true that Goodrow was an important depth piece on two Stanley Cup wins in Tampa Bay, but context is key. Tampa had acquired Goodrow at a mere $925K cap hit and used him on the wing as the third-best player on a checking line.

The Rangers signed him to four times that cap hit and expected too much from him, often using him at second-line wing or bottom-six center. Even in his best moments, Goodrow could not and would never live up to that price.

What's worse is that Goodrow did not have a good season, totaling just four goals and 12 assists in 80 games. Unlike his predecessor Gerard Gallant, head coach Peter Laviolette did not show much trust in Goodrow at even strength. He used Nick Bonino and Jonny Brodzinski over Goodrow at third-line center during the team's most dire moments and only briefly elevated him to third-line status in the regular season or playoffs.

Goodrow promised that he was built for the playoffs. In a way, he did deliver this spring with six goals in 16 games.

But Goodrow shot an absurd 40 percent; considering that he had just six goals in his prior 81 playoff games. The Rangers got pounded during his minutes at even strength and had an expected goals percentage of 33.2 percent in the playoffs, per Evolving Hockey. The magic of Goodrow in Tampa Bay was not that he was some special player built for the playoffs but that he outperformed his cap hit in a role that suited him. The Rangers overpaid him with the hope of him playing a bigger role than he is capable of. The magic was gone.

At this stage of his career, Goodrow is a fourth-line winger who can kill penalties. Those players have used but can be found in free agency at well under $2M per season. Frankly, the San Jose Sharks have done the Rangers a massive favor by taking Goodrow's contract off of the Blueshirts' books.

What's Next for the Rangers?

A first-line right winger to play alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider is at the top of the shopping list. Goodrow's departure may be enough to get the Rangers through the offseason. Evolving Hockey predicts a 6-year contract at a $4.89 million cap hit for Ryan Lindgren and 2 years at $2.14 million annually from Braden Schneider. With some give or take on either side of those numbers, the Rangers will have somewhere between $6.6 and 6.7 million remaining.

They will need to find a fourth-line center to replace Goodrow and add a seventh defenseman. A depth center could cost between $900K and $1.5 million depending on who the choice is, while a seventh defenseman should be in the range of an $800K cap hit.

With some cushion for injuries and accruing trade deadline cap space, the Rangers can currently expect to have somewhere between $4 million and $4.75 million to find their new first-liner. That's definitely enough to get a capable top-six forward. That could be enough to land them free agents such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Anthony Duclair, or Viktor Arvidsson.

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Those options pale in comparison to the bevy of premium options available. Jake Guentzel, Sam Reinhart, Jonathan Marchessault, Tyler Toffoli, Jake Debrusk, and Teuvo Teravainen will all be free agents on July 1 while the trade market theoretically offers players such as Mitch Marner, Martin Necas, and Brady Tkachuk. If the Rangers want to be in the mix for a major difference-maker, they still have work to do.

The toughest but most obvious candidate for extraction is Jacob Trouba. It would be awkward because he is captain, on his best days he is a good third-pairing defenseman and the Rangers rarely even got that during the playoffs. If Drury can find a way to move some or all of his $8 million cap hit then the Rangers would be swimming in cap space to upgrade at both forward and defense.

The Rangers do have a big decision looming with Ryan Lindgren, who has historically been a great shutdown defenseman but just endured the worst season of his career and leaves questions about his long-term health and availability given his destructive style of play. Trading him would open up more cap space, though the Rangers would likely have to reinvest that in the defense.

Finally, though the Rangers did sign Kaapo Kakko to a one-year, $2.4 million contract extension, he could still be traded. A healthy and confident Kakko is more than worth that money, but his long-term future in New York is uncertain given the need for a first-line winger and some top prospects coming up the ranks at wing.

Whether Goodrow's departure represents the full extent of the gutting of the roster remains to be seen. For now, a clever way out of that ugly contract gives the team enough room to improve the roster.