I'm with NYR Boyler87 on this one.
The simple fact is that the Rangers have notable strengths and weaknesses in their organization. The areas where they have strength, they have so many assets that they are never all going to play for the team at once. They either trade them, or they let them walk for nothing in free agency eventually as they can't all possibly be afforded.
The weaknesses, in the meantime, are weak enough that they'll either cost us dearly in the standings, or we'll have to overpay in free agency to address them.
Not that it's any surprise, but, the weaknesses: Center (both top and depth) and top-line forward prospects in general.
Strengths: Defensive prospects, 2nd and 3rd line defensive-minded forwards.
...
We just had this same debate about 6 months ago regarding Rick Nash. There were people saying four assets was way too much for Nash. Those people were wrong. You can have all the Brandon Dubinskys on the team that you want but those guys are not catalysts like Nash is. I would give up EIGHT Brandon Dubinskys for a Rick Nash, if I had that many. Giving up Dubinsky and three other pieces of the same caliber (in Anisimov, Erixon and a late first) is more than fair.
It's the same discussion here. ROR is more expensive in a trade because of his youth and perceived upside. But if ROR and MDZ are equivalent caliber players at their respective positions (or if ROR is the better player) then it is an absolute no brainer to make that deal.
Fact: MDZ is not going to crack the top 3 defensemen while he is here. He will always be behind McDonagh, Staal, and Girardi (unless one of them is moved).
Therefore, MDZ is a 4th defenseman, 5th defenseman, or 6th defenseman for his entire career here, barring a different trade.
Well, not only do we already have Stralman who can fill one of those spots, but we also have Skjei and McIlrath coming up. If those guys both pan out, well, then there is just no room for one of our defensemen. One has to be traded.
You obviously don't want to trade any of your elite defensemen. So that's no on Staal, McD, and Girardi.
So that leaves trading MDZ, Skjei, McIlrath, and Stralman.
Which of these guys gets you the best return? If MDZ brings you back ROR, but a guy like Skjei only brings you back a lower end winger, then the answer is easy. We need that top center prospect.
MDZ, while painful to lose for right now, is the piece that should go. Skjei or McIlrath can easily fill that #4D or bottom-pairing defenseman role. That role is so, so much less important than a #1 or #2 center is, and that is something we really lack in this organization going forward.
So unless someone has a better idea for picking up an early 20's top line center prospect in some other trade, the MDZ trade makes sense.
As long as it's just for MDZ. Or MDZ and spare parts. I'm not dealing MDZ and Kreider or Miller.