Friedman: Rangers have given Zac Jones permission to seek a trade

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Prepare for big moves to be made for Rantanen and Marcus Petterson if they hit UFA

I’m open to the idea of Rantanen (assuming he’s essentially a Panarin replacement).

Pettersson isn’t who we want. He’s barely a second pairing defensemen in his absolute prime. He will get some disgusting contract because he’s a UFA. He’ll be a 4 for 2-3 years and then the last 3-4 years of that deal he’ll be a true anchor.

Gotta get more creative than that. Bowen Byram, Mario Ferraro, Mike Matheson, Mattias Samuelsson, Thomas Chabot, Jake Walman, Cam Fowler, Torey Krug, Ville Heinola, Brian Dumoulin, Jackson Lacombe, Olen Zellweger are the types of targets I’d look at. If we’re going long term on a UFA left shot defenseman, I’d also prefer Gavrikov or Provorov to Pettersson.

 

[FlyguyOX]

Been waiting for them to move him for a couple years.

FINALLY!!! I'd love for the flyers to nab him. We desperately need a PP1 QB and puck movers on the back end. He could probably let us offload Drysdale while there's still a semblance of value to him.

 

[lakeshirts37]

A grand slam to the teeth of the players still left on the team and a red flag for any free agent considering signing there.

Not at all. This is so incredibly overblown by the internet and media.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

How nice of them

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I wonder if Treliving makes a call considering McCabe was out.

 

[Kegs]

Zach who?

 

[FIRE DRURY]

Drury will surprise this off season

Hopefully they surprise the fans and fire his sorry ass. Pizza bitch cares more about the success of Colony Grill than the actual Rangers.

 

[SEALBound]

What are the Rangers looking for in return? Forward or dman?

 

[Peter Griffin]

Welcome to Vancouver

Doubtful. Brannstrom is comparable and he never even gets played.

 

[PocketNines]

part of the sad end of the Squirt Krug Era. most of these guys are bums who even when they reach their full potential, the rest of your hockey team has to shelter them to cover for their tiny bodies. it should have never happened. it gave people like Zac Jones an idea they were useful to getting a Cup and that they were going to get paiiiid

 

[DanielBrassard]

What are the Rangers looking for in return? Forward or dman?

Probably a mid-round pick

 

[NYRKing]

Imo he will be a very good pick up, and it will cost nothing.

Hate to see Vakanainen played over him.

I always saw Jones in a similar trajectory as Neal Pionk.

Yes, he’s not very physical but he’s smart and skilled.

 

[TGWL]

Jones is only a liability on the backend when it comes to battles.
He's good at retrieving the puck and moving during a hard forecheck.
He can stick with the players without being beat.
He's good at first passes.
He can shake skaters.

The issue is that he's not going to win you board battles. He's not going to knock players over. He's not going to win a battle in front of the net with a player shoving him away to get space.

 

[Kocur Dill]

13 points in their last 23 games and the direction is still to burn down any roster player that criticizes management rather than change the management lol.

Wonder if Rangers ownership realizes how unwilling anybody of value is going to be to sign with Drury without an NMC.

Or...the room culture will change and we wont be attracting freeloaders and loafers who arent interested in "work hockey" only "night life and pond hockey".

Then we attract FAs who want to win amd have the discipline to put the work in.

Well...hopefully. Thats my wish. With Dolan the ultimate say so, that could happen and 3 months later be right back to "guys who sell jerseys and playoff revenue matters." again.

 

[crackdown44]

I’d like him in Calgary. Left side is kinda bad enough that he’d play. What do the rangers want

 

[Dfence033]

I’d like him in Calgary. Left side is kinda bad enough that he’d play. What do the rangers want

I’d imagine a mid-round pick. 3rd rounder probably gets it done. He was a 3rd round pick himself, and at 24 and not established as an NHLer at this point, his going rate is the “maybe there is something more there” price.

 

[EXTRAS]

I don't understand this "we will give you permission to seek a trade"

I know he's been a twerp, but if the Rangers are really willing to move him, if I were the gm of the Rangers I'd quickly just send out 31 offers to each team. See who bites. Is it really that hard? Seems like the return would be better...i guess i just don't understand the process.

 

[RWatson29]

Probably a 4th or something

 

[n8]

I wonder if Knoblauch has EDM send out some feelers. Coached him in HFD.
I would say that Jones is a better puck mover than Nils Lundkvist so don't let his draft position influence your assessment of Zac.

 

[LeonDraisaitl]

Means “we tried our best, you can try though”

 

[gabevh3]

Lots of ink being spilled over an undersized, all offense, 24 year old former 3rd round pick LHD averaging roughly 0.25 points per game over 100 NHL games. That’s a per 82 average of 20 points for a guy who really doesn’t bring much if he isn’t scoring.

I don’t blame him for wanting to find a team willing to play him more - his NHL career is probably nearly on the line if it isn’t already - but let’s not make this out to be some massive failing of the Rangers. He just doesn’t do enough at this level to play ahead of the other players the Rangers had at his position the last 5 years when they were trying to win the Cup, no matter how much better that may have been for his “development.”

Disagree. He's one of the most solid all around d nyr have. The veterans make more mistakes but Laviolette leans on them regardless.... Jones rarely makes mistakes and gets scratched and benched almost every time..

Hopefully they surprise the fans and fire his sorry ass. Pizza bitch cares more about the success of Colony Grill than the actual Rangers.

Nyr won't ruin his grill lol

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Gotta love it when the GM comes out and says "we don't want you and I don't want to waste my time looking for somewhere for you. Go do it yourself".

 

[gabevh3]

Exactly what you'd expect from an undersized defenseman...not good.

He's the type of player that needs to be an impact player offensively to have a spot in the lineup. It's going to be hard for him to find a fit in the league because you can never have more than 1 of him on a D corps at any given time, and the Rangers have Fox. Most other teams already have a guy in that mold.

He shows flashes, but he doesn't have that one "x-factor" (I hate that I just used that term) trait to make him stick in the league. How Tyson Barrie had a bomb of a shot, Jones really doesn't have any one skill that is elite.

Not bad either... and better than some others that are playing over him.

 

[Dfence033]

Disagree. He's one of the most solid all around d nyr have. The veterans make more mistakes but Laviolette leans on them regardless.... Jones rarely makes mistakes and gets scratched and benched almost every time..


Nyr won't ruin his grill lol

Going to go ahead and suggest that the armies of paid pros who do this for a living (some well into the millions of dollars per year range) probably know more than us posters on a website.

He’s okay, but to say he’s better than anyone they have iced over the last four seasons - sure you could argue guys like Ruhwedel or the other “7th” D the Rangers have trotted out, but I’m not going as far as to say he beats out Fox, Miller, Schneider, Trouba, or even Lindgren. Maybe offensively for some, but he doesn’t score enough to overlook his defensive inabilities in comparison to those. So he’s at best fighting for the 6/7 spot, and likely best served being a top-2 in the AHL for his own development. But that was apparently an issue for him.

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

Feel the Bruins could be in on this.