Braden Schneider and the New York Rangers have a real decision to make before camp opens, and it centers on fixing a thin bottom six.
New York's top six looks genuinely better after adding Pavel Dorofeyev and Oliver Bjorkstrand alongside Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, and Alexis Lafreniere.
Zibanejad posted 78 points last season, Lafreniere added 57, and Miller chipped in 53, proof the top of this lineup can score with anyone.
The bottom six is a different story. Will Cuylle managed 38 points, but names like Taylor Raddysh, Joseph Veleno, and Matthew Rempe combined for barely 25 points between them.
That's not enough scoring depth for a team trying to climb back into the playoff picture after finishing last in the East a year ago.
Free agent options like Vladimir Tarasenko and Eeli Tolvanen remain unsigned this deep into August, and Tarasenko already has history in New York from a partial season back in 2022-23.
The Rangers reportedly have a little over $1.5 million in cap space right now, tight, but enough to add a cheap depth piece before camp starts.
Why trading Schneider could solve two problems at once
Braden Schneider only signed a one-year extension this summer, the same kind of short-term deal the Rangers gave Ryan Lindgren before trading him to Colorado.
Schneider posted 18 points in 82 games last season on a $2,200,000 cap hit, and Scott Morrow and Vincent Iorio give New York cover on the right side.
That makes Schneider genuinely movable, and a name like Seattle's Shane Wright fits what New York actually needs down the middle after trading away Vincent Trocheck.
Wright scored 27 points in 74 games last season on a cheap $886,667 cap hit, exactly the kind of controllable young forward worth chasing in a trade.
Signing a bargain-bin free agent patches a hole for one season. Trading Schneider for a player like Wright fixes the middle six for years, not months.
Training camp is close, and how the Rangers choose to fill this gap says plenty about whether they're building for this year or the next several.
Should the Rangers trade Braden Schneider for a middle-six forward?
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