Rangers may need to choose between Ryan Strome and Andrew Copp
Ryan Strome of the Rangers celebrates his second-period goal against the Penguins in Game 2 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Just about everything worked out perfectly for the Rangers this season as they emerged from their four-year rebuild and barged their way into the NHL’s elite and into the playoffs for the first time since 2017.
Along the way, they demonstrated tremendous resilience, answering every question posed to them, and meeting every challenge. But on Wednesday they were faced with the biggest challenge so far: trying to dig out of a 3-1 series deficit in their first-round, best-of-seven matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It wasn’t an impossible task. Thirty previous NHL teams have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven series, the most recent being the Montreal Canadiens, who did it last year against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Rangers have done it twice, in 2014 against these same Penguins, and in 2015 against the Washington Capitals. If they managed to win Game 5 at Madison Square Garden Wednesday, Game 6 would be Friday in Pittsburgh.
If they didn’t though, the season would be over in disappointing fashion, and they would immediately have to ponder the question of what went wrong in the end, and how best to fix it.
General manager Chris Drury had the cap space this season to load up at the trade deadline, and he did, acquiring forwards Frank Vatrano, Andrew Copp and Tyler Motte and defenseman Justin Braun, all of whom have become integral parts of the team. But the Rangers won’t have the salary-cap space next season to be able to keep all those players, so decisions must be made about who Drury brings back, and who he doesn’t.
The biggest question is whether second-line center Ryan Strome, scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent, returns. Strome and the Rangers have been unable to negotiate a contract extension all season, so it’s no lock that they’ll be able to reach agreement in the summer, when Strome can test the market.
An alternative to Strome could be Copp, who is also scheduled to be a free agent. Copp has been a perfect fit playing on the right wing with Strome and Artemi Panarin, but he could slide to the middle and replace Strome on the line if Strome isn’t here next season.
Andrew Copp of the Rangers celebrates his first-period goal against the Penguins during Game 2 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Copp is slightly bigger (both are listed at 6-1, but Copp is 206 pounds, Strome 191), and a better faceoff man. He’s a year younger (27, while Strome is 28) and is a lefthanded shot, where Strome is righthanded. That might give the power play more options, given that Chris Kreider was the only lefthander on the top power-play unit during the season.
Strome scored 21 goals and had 33 assists in 74 games; Copp had a combined 21 goals and 32 assists in 72 games for Winnipeg and the Rangers. In the playoffs, Strome had a goal and two assists entering Game 5; Copp had three goals.
Strome has built such wonderful chemistry with Panarin over their three seasons together that it might not be something the Rangers want to just give up on. Of course, it works the other way, too. Strome might not want to leave a situation where he’s playing with Panarin on a team that now looks like it will be going to the playoffs every year.
But it could come down to bottom-line dollars and cents. Strome carried a $4.5 million cap hit this season, while Copp carried a $3.64 million hit. For Drury, choosing which to keep could be as simple as which would cost less.
According to CapFriendly, the Rangers’ salary-cap hit for next season for eight forwards, six defensemen and goalie Igor Shesterkin is $67.3 million. Plus, there’s $3.42 million of dead money on the cap, left over from the buyouts of Henrik Lundqvist, Kevin Shattenkirk and Dan Girardi.
That adds up to $70.72 million, which leaves roughly $11.8 million of space under the $82.5 million salary cap to re-sign Strome, Copp or some other option to play second-line center, plus re-sign restricted free-agent forwards Kaapo Kakko and Sammy Blais, a 12th forward (Kevin Rooney, the current fourth-line center, is a UFA), backup goaltender (assuming Alexandar Georgiev isn’t re-signed) and a 13th forward and seventh defenseman.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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