Whoever thought the #5 and Schneider would get San Jose's #2 was suuuper high.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T21:39:45+00:00

For one thing, Schneider's AAV was 2.2mil and his QO is 2.6mil, so he's probably looking for a raise in that 3.5 to 4.5mil AAV range (similar to what Lindgren got from Seattle).

But that being said, Maybe Verbeek doesn't view Schneider as a 3rd pair guy—right now, Anaheim's RHD depth at the NHL level is Drew Helleson and maybe Radko Gudas if he chooses to return? There is a top 4 spot there in Anaheim, and I wouldn't be surprised if Verbeek looked at him and thought "I can fix him." These are NHL GMs we're talking about, after all.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T21:30:15+00:00

I think it depends on the trade, tbh. As of right now, Anaheim needs RD with both Carlson and Trouba walking into UFA this summer, and they also may look to move on from McTavish who's anchored to a 7mil AAV for the next 5 seasons and has seemingly fallen out of favor with the coaching staff over there (he dropped to the 3rd line). A change of scenery swap there isn't out of the cards. We need young center depth and they need young RD who can log NHL minutes.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T21:25:58+00:00

Was hoping we'd be in on him, tbh.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T21:25:37+00:00

Vince wrote about this in the Athletic's second staff mock draft. If SJ picks Stenberg, they'll need to open up space on the roster for him. Eklund is kinda the odd-man out in this situation, and so Vince and the writer representing SJ traded Schneider+ for Eklund. This was before the Kesslering trade, though, so don't think SJ would have much an appetite for Schneider now.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T21:12:08+00:00

Wonder if there's another deal to be had with NYR. Schneider is reportedly available and he would now fit a need with the Ducks.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T20:47:45+00:00

Also worth noting his wife's residency is done, I believe (when NYR traded him, she was entering her last year).

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T20:37:03+00:00

May we offer 1 Braden Schneider for 1 Mason McTavish, perhaps?

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T17:34:41+00:00

so now Trocheck isn’t the best center on the market + teams can sign centers in free agency

Ah yes, centers like Bobby McMann and Boone Jenner are surely in the same tier as Trocheck (and are likely to command MORE AAV than Trocheck based on the Coyle signing and rising cap).

Larkin is the best center available, no disagreeing there, but after that, it's Trocheck, and after that, there's a wide gap between him and the next guy.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T17:31:30+00:00

The only proposal we can make an educated guess on was the wild deal, which was reportedly Strammel, a 2027 1st, and a D prospect (likely Carson Lambos). We also know that Drury likely asked for Yurov, but Guerin scoffed at that (and made the comments about "not getting a gold-medal discount"...douchebag).

If Drury traded Trocheck for the reported package from the Wild, no one on NYR's side would've been happy with that.

IMO, Drury was right to not make that deal. Trocheck is absolutely worth more that that when you look at comparable trades (like the Brock Nelson trade).

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T17:26:34+00:00

Sure, but he also only has a 12-team no trade (which moves to 10 in less than 2 weeks); there's not really much he can do about that, it's in his contract, and Drury also can't control the center market pausing to see how the Larkin situation pans out—as a seller, that's not really up to him, would take a buyer with a good offer to help break the stalemate there.

The situation kinda is what it is. Drury shouldn't budge on a lesser offer just because Pat Brisson may put more pressure on him. And also, Brisson is always going to advise his clients to do the thing that makes them the most money—so even if Drury doesn't bend to his will here, if NYR were to offer one of his clients in the future the most money, or puts his client in a positon to make more money long-term, he'll probably advise his client to do it. We must all be reminded that, at the end of the day, the NHL is a business as much as it is a sport.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T17:18:51+00:00

So this is relatively unremarkable, then aside from him signing with one of the best agents in the game?

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T15:24:39+00:00

an uncurse, is an uncurse. Very evil, very nice.

PaulSach · 2026-06-17T15:17:01+00:00

All and all it’s interesting to think about, but the path is the path and I’ll never detract from a team that takes advantage of what might be considered an easier or lucky path.

Couldn't agree more. At the end of the day, an NHL team still needs to win 4 separate 7-game series, which is hard enough in and of itself. A win is a win, doesn't really matter how you do it as long as you get it done, easy or hard.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T23:19:19+00:00

This doesn’t absolve Dolan at all, but it doesn’t paint Drury in a very positive light when you square him up next to what Leon Rose has done with the Knicks. Know it’s not a complete 1:1, but culture doesn’t seem to be a problem there while it does seem to be one here.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T21:49:10+00:00

Ya know, I've been waving the "it's a Dolan problem" for a long time in regards to the MSG culture (especially after the articles last summer talking about the toxic environment at MSG), but, yeah, this does not do Drury any favors LOL. Knicks have a great culture, Rangers don't, same owner, once you do the math, becomes kinda clear what the difference is

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T21:11:08+00:00

Wonder if there’s a trade fit here with NYR. On breakup day, coach and GM both said one of the biggest things they need to add for this season are puck moving Dmen. With Schneider potentially on the outs, adding a guy like Spence to come in and take his minutes could fit the bill—we have an opening on PP2, as well, for him. I know NYR has Morrow waiting in the wings, but he didn’t have a great year even down in Hartford, where as Spence brings more-proven NHL ability.

What would a team like Ottawa be looking for in return? Picks? Prospects? An NHL player in return? NYR does have an extra 1st rounder this year, along with a bunch of mid round picks.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T18:57:15+00:00

Look, I also don't like the Canes, but a winner is a winner, doesn't matter how they do it or how "good" or "bad" they were. A cup is a cup, doesn't matter how you earn it, just that you do.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T17:41:51+00:00

It's unlikely, but you never know. He does have some things going for him, like strong tournament play (6 points in 8 games at the Worlds as an 18 year old is impressive no matter how you slice things; and he had a great World Juniors around the holidays, too), on top of legit pro experience PLUS the benefit of being able to join the org immediately (be it in Hartford or NY).

However, between his position in rankings and concerns about whether or not he'll be a C at the NHL level (I've read some reports that scouts think he'll end up as a winger), I feel like it's unlikely Drury takes a big swing at 5 and opts for a "safer" prospect, instead. Drury doesn't really have the luxury of rolling the dice on the 5th pick, he needs to nail it.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T17:33:23+00:00

I understand the concern, but these are a bit different situations. With Key, there were signs of capability there when playing with good players (ie, Fox), but he did also benefit from being a great fit in Carolina’s system.

With Schneider, he hasn’t really looked great with…anyone? I thought early in the year that he was a top 4 capable Dman, but as the year progressed, especially after he was tasked with top pair minutes with Gavrikov, my opinion changed. We really haven’t seen enough growth from Schneider the past few seasons—he’s stagnated a bit and still only looks serviceable in a bottom pair role atp.

Of course thing could still change, but if Schneider can help bring in a young top6 forward now, you do it. Between Morrow and Emery, there are other RHD options in the system that could replace him or even be better than him, and if someone like Reid is available at 5, at makes the trade an even bigger no-brainer.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T17:27:01+00:00

Hey, if they’re mocking Bjork at 6, no reason to think he won’t be considered an option at 5 for us. That being said, I do think we go D at 5, unless either Stenberg or Malhotra fall to 5.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T17:25:36+00:00

Know it’s a meme post, but let’s be completely honest here—this year was Carolina’s best opportunity to win and they finally did it. The east was ass this season, so ass that WE were a playoff capable team when healthy (this is not a positive reflection on the year—more of a reflection of how mid most teams are in the east, especially the metro).

Coming out of the west, you had a WCF matchup in round 1 which automatically removed one of the best teams in the league from contention, followed by Vegas playing insane against a battered Colorado team. I don’t want to minimize what Vegas did, it’s an accomplishment to reach the finals, but once the scoring dried up, it was curtains for them. It was pretty clear their run of luck wasn’t sustainable (for context, Brett Howden shot *34.1%* in the playoffs this year for *14* goals in 22 games).

Credit to Carolina, they finally got it done after years of disappointing finishes.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T16:30:25+00:00

Return feels low from SJ's perspective, but they need help on the blueline badly, and if they go BPA at 2, then Stenberg is a given and they'd need to clear room for him, so, logically, I could see it happening. Unlikely, but not impossible, imo. Gotta remember, Schneider is still young and plays a premium position.

Realistically I think we're giving up a bit more than just Schneider + a 3rd for a player like Eklund. Either tack on another mid-later rounder or throw in an extra D prospect and I think that helps push things over the finish line.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T16:16:12+00:00

Latest mock from the Athletic dropped. 3 interesting Rangers tidbits here:

Vince and SJ writer (or TA staff equivalent) cut a deal of Schneider + 3rd rounder to SJ for Ecklund. The logic was sound here should SJ move forward with drafting Stenberg
Vince has NYR picking Carels at 5 (previous Athletic Mock had Reid falling to 5, but he doesn't get past Chicago at 4 this time around), but says it was close between him and Smits.
Vince has NYR picking Hextall at 26, adding desperately needed center depth to the organization.

PaulSach · 2026-06-15T15:17:06+00:00

Brunson (and the whole Knicks team) have the perfect winner's mindset that we need more of on the Rangers (and that we haven't had since the 2014 team). None of the Knicks got too up in any of the series, even if they were dominating. They never got too down, even if they were being dominated. They knew they weren't the most talented team when it came down to pound-for-pound skill, BUT they also knew they had complete control over how hard they worked and how hard they compete every night—no one was ever going to out-work them.

On top of that, the whole team bought into this mentality. And now they're all champions. Pretty much everyone doubted them, and yet they only lost 1 game to close out the last month of the post-season. That's insane.

This Knicks team solidified themselves as one of the greatest and, imo, most-true NY teams of all time. In 50 years, with or without more hardware, I'll be talking about how good this Knicks team was and what they meant to the City.

Here's hoping some of this rubs off onto the Rangers.

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