Frank Seravalli said recently, at Daily Faceoff, that San Jose RW Timo Meier has “has risen to the very top” of the Rangers trade deadline targets.
Meier, 26, has cap hit of $6 million this season and is a pending RFA that has a qualifying offer of $10 million for next season.
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Seravalli wrote today that he believes that Meier is the Rangers number one target. (Daily Faceoff)
Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts of the Rangers and Meier, “I think that is a tighter squeeze cap-wise for the future. I’ve heard a lot of teams interested and a lot of really good teams interested.”
Arthur Staple wrote at The Athletic that the Sharks want a “young center” as part of the return for Meier.
Staple adds that a contract extension for Meier is likely going to come in at around $8.5 million per season for 7-8 years. (The Athletic)
Sheng Peng of SJHockeyNow wrote that the price for Meier is likely to be a first round pick and some combination of two prospects or one prospect and an “established NHL player.”
Peng also said that the Sharks could end up receiving a deal similar to what Vancouver got from the Islanders for Bo Horvat. (SJ Hockey Now)
Meier averages .70 points per game in his career, last season had 35 goals and 41 assists in 77 games, and this season 26 goals and 20 assists in 46 games.
Adam Rotter: Meier would fit and solve one RW spot in the top-six, but it’s hard to see how the Rangers can make it all work long-term and I don’t see them making a move like this unless it has Meier locked down.
They certainly have the picks and prospects to make a deal, but I don’t think they would move any of their young forwards, except Vitali Kravtsov, in a trade. The Rangers are looking to add to their top-nine, not subtract from it and potentially open up another hole.
I’m not sure the Rangers would move any of those guys anyway, again except Kravtsov, with how Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil have taken big steps and I don’t think they are ready to move on from Alexis Lafreniere, especially during the season.
There is all of that and then there is the fact that other moves would probably need to be made in the summer to fit Meier under the cap. If the Rangers had more space, fewer players needing new contracts or the cap was going up, then it might be a different story, but it’s going to be tight for the Rangers to re-sign their current players and they may have to move on from someone just to make it work.
I’m not sure if this will impact the Rangers pursuit of Meier, but it’s believed that the Devils are going to make a major push and a lot of people consider them to be the favorites.
So where would the Rangers go to upgrade? Patrick Kane is still an option, but he’s banged up and possibly needs surgery. If he wants to be a Ranger and Chicago would take heavily conditioned mid-round picks, that could bump up based on how far the Rangers go/how much Kane players, then it might be worth a try.
Vladimir Tarasenko could be an option as a rental, but I’m not sure how willing Chris Drury is to pay a high price for a rental. James van Riemsdyk is a LW, so he isn’t a natural fit, but he should come cheaper than someone like Tarasenko.