The Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators stunned the hockey world on Sunday night with the blockbuster Brady Tkachuk trade, one that likely sent Rangers brass reeling. They were never in it, as Tkachuk didn’t even have the Rangers on his list of preferred destinations. Wrapping up our point/counterpoint series, it’s clear the Rangers dodged a bullet with Brady Tkachuk. A missile, perhaps. As much as the Rangers may have wanted Tkachuk, this was not the right time to make such a blockbuster trade.
Brady Tkachuk is an excellent hockey player and has proven to be a top line forward who brings plenty of grit and sandpaper to an NHL roster. Tkachuk has averaged 66 points per 82 games since entering the NHL, and an even better 72 points per season since 2021-2022, when he really took off. That’s nothing to roll your eyes at, even if the Rangers dodged a bullet by “missing out” on Tkachuk.
The Rangers dodged a bullet: This wasn’t the right time
Still, in a world in which players are constantly changing teams (which is fun!) and the Rangers are not exactly drowning in assets, making the team’s big move on Brady Tkachuk would have been disastrous. Acquiring a player who has never topped 85 points in a season to essentially become the franchise forward would be a very Chris Drury thing to do! (Meaning, it would be silly.)
The Rangers are also not in any position to add such a player right now. This is not the 2024 New York Rangers. If you asked me if the Rangers should be all in on Tkachuk after the end to that postseason run, then I would have thought long and hard about it. While this Rangers team does have franchise players in Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox, they are not the Florida Panthers, who are firmly in their contention window and looking to hang on as long as possible.
Trading assets of any kind in their current position is foolish, but trading a lot of assets for one player is about the dumbest thing the Rangers could do right now and a major reason why the Rangers dodged a bullet. New York already saw what happened when they tried to add a win-now player to a highly flawed roster in JT Miller. They got worse, Miller got worse, and they both overcompensated by naming him captain.
Brady Tkachuk is an excellent player who would raise the floor for the Rangers, but all that would do is essentially mean the Rangers finish maybe 10th in the Eastern Conference rather than 14th. Is that worth three first round picks? Was it worth derailing the plan–if there is one? The Rangers dodged a bullet here, and it’s pretty obvious to anyone without Tkachuk blinders.
This comes back to a point above: The NHL is seeing players change teams at a rate perhaps never seen before in league history. Tkachuk would have been a good add in a vacuum, but the Rangers are much better off collecting assets and striking when a true franchise-changing player is available. We are closer than ever before to a Connor McDavid or an Auston Matthews becoming available. All these teams going all-in on great but not spectacular players like Brady Tkachuk or soon to be Dylan Larkin will likely not have the assets to be in on generational players.
Simply put, the Rangers dodged a bullet and were not the fit this go around for Tkachuk. He’s a great player who will thrive in Florida, but he shouldn’t be the best forward on your team, and he wouldn’t have been worth the cost for the Rangers to acquire him. I’m glad he won’t be a Ranger.