NHL Trade Rumors: Rangers Will Look to Add Top 6 Forward at Deadline

The New York Rangers may sit atop the NHL standings, but that won't stop Glen Sather from making moves at the trade deadline. The Rangers will be looking to acquire a top-six forward before they make the big push into the playoffs. The current players that occupy the top six include Artem Anisimov, Ryan Callahan, Marian Gaborik, Brad Richards and a combination that has included Carl Hagelin and Brandon Dubinsky.

This top six is primarily a group of two-way players and playmakers. If you were to assign roles in the top six, Gaborik is the only goal scorer. Stepan and Richards are playmakers who are on pace to eclipse the 30-assists plateau, and Artem Anisimov is a center who has played the left wing for the better part of the season.

Players like Callahan and Dubinsky, on the other hand, are two-way forwards who like to grind it out. They aren't creative playmakers or gifted scorers, but they are players who will dig deep in the trenches to fight for loose pucks that can create scoring chances. This is all great for the team, but what they could use is more goal scoring.

What the Rangers would like to add for their top six is another goal scorer. Marian Gaborik leads the team in goals with 23, but after that the next-highest scorer is Richards, with 15 goals. When one of your top playmakers is second in goals there is something that needs to change. Richards is on pace for a career-high 30 goals, but he shouldn't have to help carry the team in goal scoring.

It isn't a negative that he is scoring; what is negative is that others like Brian Boyle, Ruslan Fedotenko, Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov are not scoring enough goals. The Rangers in the past didn't have success because the team lived and died on the back of Henrik Lundqvist. This year there is more overall production, but the team can't live or die on the goal scoring stick of Marian Gaborik. 

While it is great that the team is winning and picking up points, Glen Sather will look to improve if possible at the deadline. Larry Brooks at the New York Post posted this insight into what the Rangers will look to do at the deadline:

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Of course the Rangers are monitoring the situation in Nashville as it applies to defensemen Ryan Suter and Shea Weber (as is every team in the Stanley Cup mix) and yes, the Coyotes’ Shane Doan would be the perfect top-six fit coming up to the Feb. 27 trade deadline if a cost-effective deal could be made.

Though history suggests the Blueshirts’ Glen Sather and the Coyotes’ Don Maloney are more than comfortable transacting business together, it is unknown whether Doan, an impending unrestricted free agent who has played his entire career in Winnipeg and Phoenix and owns a no-move clause, has any interest in, a) moving; or b) moving to Manhattan, even for the short term.

In the meantime, don’t be the slightest bit surprised if the Rangers, who have gotten next to nothing in terms of offense from their bottom two lines (not to mention the power play), bring back veteran winger Vinny Prospal as a rental from Columbus if the price is reasonable.

If the Rangers need to add depth up front for any sort of serious run through the tournament, and they do, I’d see what it would cost to rent Dominic Moore from the Lightning, and I wouldn’t wait very long to place the call, either.

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The Rangers still will obviously monitor the Bobby Ryan situation in Anaheim, but as the Ducks work their way back into the playoff picture, the trade window could be closing. The only thing that the Rangers should consider adding is a power play specialist. If that player also fills the void in their top six it would be great.

The biggest problem the Rangers have is a failure to convert with the man-advantage. The Rangers currently have the 24th-most effective man advantage in the league, with a 14.5 percent success rate. While the Bruins proved last year that you could still be successful without an effective power play, they scored more even strength goals than the Rangers.

Players the Rangers are going to target include Vinny Prospal, Shane Doan, Bobby Ryan and Shea Weber. Another player the Rangers should consider is Ray Whitney, due to his contract status and his career proficiency on the man-advantage.

Prospal may be older and an injury risk, but he has proven chemistry with Gaborik and he could be a low-cost acquisition. Doan, Ryan, Weber and Whitney could require some more intense negotiations. While the Rangers don't have to make a trade, it would be in their best interests to make an upgrade of sorts.

While Don Maloney has been adamant that he will not look to trade Shane Doan, if the Coyotes were to fall out of playoff contention, it would be completely feasible that Doan asks for a trade to a playoff contender so he can have an opportunity to win a Stanley Cup. He does love the city of Phoenix and has strong ties to the community but he may evaluate his situation as the deadline draws nearer. The likelihood of Doan leaving Phoenix is slim but it isn't impossible.

The Rangers were pretty quiet at last year's deadline. This year they have a lot of things going for them and could really put themselves into serious playoff contention if they can get their power play and overall scoring going.

They should not make change for the sake of making changes, but Glen Sather is expected to do his due diligence in monitoring the market. This team is finding ways to win games and with a key deadline addition they could make some serious noise in the playoffs. 

The Rangers are a team that could really kick it in to high gear if everyone is performing. The defense and goaltending has been spectacular up to this point and that is a good sign for the postseason. If top prospect Chris Kreider can join the team in March when his obligations to the NCAA are fulfilled maybe that could help invigorate the offense. This team has yet to fire on all cylinders so once everything starts to click, the team could be very dangerous in the playoffs.

Tom Urtz Jr. is an NHL Featured Columnist. For NHL news, updates and alerts about players: