Surprising developments for Rangers ahead of Expansion Draft

With the NHL Expansion Draft looming later this month, it’s expected to be a busy week across the NHL as teams look to meet the expansion criteria in advance of submitting their protection list on Saturday. One strategy a team can use is to request that a player waive his no-trade or no-movement clause so that he can be left unprotected in the draft. The theory is that if a veteran player isn’t likely to be selected by the Vegas Golden Knights, why waste a protected spot on them and allow a younger player to be scooped up for free?

In the case of the New York Rangers, two defenders pose a problem, not only for the Expansion Draft, but also for the team moving forward: Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. The two veteran blue liners represent $5.7 million and $5.5 million respectively against the cap and simply don’t provide the team with enough bang for buck value. Despite each playing over 19 minutes a game, their effectiveness is on the decline and it was thought by most Rangers fans that the team would ask one or both defenders to waive their no-trade protection for the upcoming draft. Not so, however, says one Rangers reporter:

This means that two of the team’s three protected spots on defense are tied up in Staal and Girardi. It’s a certainty that they’ll use the last remaining spot to protect captain Ryan McDonagh, leaving Brendan Smith, Kevin Klein, Nick Holden, and Steven Kampfer exposed to selection. Alternatively, the team could have opted to protect merely 8 skaters total, which would enable them to protect an additional forward like Michael Grabner over Staal and Girardi.

Regardless, the Rangers seem to have made their decision regarding both Staal and Girardi. While Rangers fans may not like it, the two long-time Rangers blue liners aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.