Trade Rumors ESCALATING... This is WILD | NYR News

On Thursday morning in Buffalo, a center who put up 54 points last season skated at morning skate and wasn't on either of the top two penalty kill units and was a healthy scratch. His name is Ryan McLeod and the more I look into him and what he brings to a team, the more he looks like the exact piece the Rangers have been missing. Buffalo has healthy scratched him. It doesn't seem like they need him. Maybe they're sending a message, but this would be a perfect fit. For the Rangers and the Rangers are in Seattle tonight in the spirit of taking a shot on another team's player. But guys, before we get into that and the first game of a huge road trip, a quick reminder to hit that subscribe button. I am giving away a jersey here on the channel for whatever comes first, either 15,000 subscribers or the Rangers make the playoffs and we just hit 12,000 subscribers. Thank you so much for the support out here on the channel. If you're continuing to enjoy the daily updates on everything that's happening with the Rangers. Go down below, hit that free subscribe button. Now let's get into the news. So last year he had 54 points and this year he has three points in 15 games with one goal and he has a minus seven. In his last five games before the scratch, he had one assist and his ice time dropped dramatically to around 15 minutes a night. Last season he was averaging 17 to 18 minutes a night. So that's almost four minutes a game gone. He has one goal on 13 shots, a seven percent shooting percentage and one goal that came all the way back on October 12th and the Buffalo Sabres have some young talent. They can afford to sit him. Yuri Kulich went back in for him into the lineup and the Sabres have Tage Thompson, Josh Norris, and a group of young centers pushing through, but a few different accounts have put his career on paper. And if And if you look at the advanced analytics. This is a bit of a strange year for him. Three straight seasons above 10 goals above replacement. Then this year he is below zero. Now, Ryan McLeod was asked about it and he didn't shy away from how poor his play has been this year. He said, quote, they could tell I was struggling and it's kind of a bit of a fresh start to get healthy scratched. He also said he knows he hasn't been good enough defensively and offensively. The Sabres got him originally from Edmonton back in July of 2024, and they sent Matthew Savoy and a 2022 first round pick the other way. In his first year in Buffalo, he scored 20 goals and had 53 points the year after 50. 54 points. I'm choosing to believe that 15 bad games is just a slump and maybe they don't have a spot for him anymore. And three straight good seasons is who he is as a player. Last season, Ryan McLeod had 54 points, 40 assists and five shorthanded goals. Those five shorthanded goals are actually surprisingly tied for fifth most by a Sabre in a single season. Benchrate's model had his penalty kill contribution at 97 out of 100 last season, and their model put his overall contribution at 84 out of 100 and valued at an $8.8 million a year valuation, and he's only being paid $5 million and they said that he fits the profile of a mythical top nine center that everybody wants and nobody can find. Now if you look at the Rangers center depth obviously Vincent Trocheck was moved in a big package to Utah last offseason. Mika Zibanejad, JT Miller they're playing first and second line center right now they have 13 points each they're they're okay they're fine. The third line center has been Noah Laba for a large portion of this season and through 17 games he has zero Goals and four points and has been moved. And that might be the hole right now because Will Cooley, a guy who's never played center in his life, is playing third line center. And by the way, this isn't just me bringing this up out of thin air. The Rangers have liked and been linked to this player for a while. Back in February of 2025, Vince Mercogliano reported that they have interest in a center like Ryan McLeod who can play the wing as well. And McLeod isn't necessarily old. He's 6'3", 27 years old, and he's already been to a Stanley Cup final in his career, playing 24 playoff games with Edmonton in 2024. He plays with a lot of speed, he kills penalties, he plays a 200-foot game, and he doesn't need power play time to produce. So what would this actually cost, though? Because it's probably a little expensive, even though you may be buying low with him not producing right now. McLeod makes $5 million a year through the 2028. season. The Rangers are currently right at the $104 million ceiling, about $447,000 over on the cap sheet. So close to a combined, whether it's one contract, two contracts, three contracts has to go back to Buffalo and Buffalo only has $2.4 million in space themselves right now. Buffalo is also eight, five, and three right now at 19 points. So they're trying to win now. They made the playoffs last year. It's a tough Atlantic division, but they want probably real NHL talent back. Maybe not just all futures. And that might be the tricky part to manage with the Rangers because you got to spend money back. It's not necessarily the assets. The Rangers do have some good assets they could give up if they wanted a player like this. It's the money and making that situation work. But I think this deal would make a lot of sense for the Rangers and it would make them faster. It would add to the penalty kill as well. more versatile team and right now again you would be buying low the guy has three points in 15 games this might be the cheapest he's ever been being healthy scratched I would look into this and I would imagine that because of the slump he's in right now because they don't really have a spot for him and they're healthy scratching him maybe it's you know a forward maybe you're moving some money out and then it's just a you know a pick or maybe it's a prospect that isn't a top prospect in the org now you might be thinking why would you acquire a player that's having a slump like this that's not playing well so far this season that's being healthy scratched and saying that he needs to be better that's because the data we have on this player from the three seasons prior he is a good player plus acquiring him with some term with the cap going up as much it is the next couple of years five million dollars through 2028-29 that's that's pretty good value And the Rangers know a thing or two about taking another team's underperforming player and turning them into something almost like a star. And that brings us to tonight where the Rangers are in Seattle. Ty Carter played 180 games for the Seattle Kraken and scored 20 goals. Last February, Seattle finally decided to put him on waivers and the Rangers claimed him the next day. In 41 games as a New York Ranger, he already has 10 goals and 26 points, so half the goals in under a quarter of the game so far. He scored the game winner on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers at home with just under five minutes left, and he played over 20 minutes in each of the last two games. And Mike Sullivan is talking about him, how he's just a consistent player that he trusts, and he's on pace for 60 plus points this year. He's also been somewhat of a playoff performer. I mean, he played with Seattle in 2023 in the playoffs. He had three goals in 10 games in that playoff run. And revenge games are always fun. And yes, they are absolutely real. And this is one tonight. These two teams come in with the same amount of points, 19 points on the year. The Rangers have played 17 games. Seattle has played two fewer at 15. The Rangers had lost five straight from October 22nd to November 1st, then beat St. Louis and Philadelphia at home this week. The last time that these two teams met back on January 12th, Seattle ended up winning 4-2. Seattle's last game was on Wednesday night, a 2-1 overtime win over the Calgary Flames, and Matty Beniers scored the winner in overtime. Neither team has necessarily pulled away from anyone. Seattle has scored 54 goals and allowed 53, and the Rangers have scored 51 and allowed 49. And no one on Seattle is a big-time scorer. Chandler Stephenson, Capocacco, a familiar name as well, and Berkeley Caton all have 12. points on the year. Their weak spot might actually be a good thing for the Rangers and that is a net Philip Grubauer is at an .886 save percentage and Joey DeCord is at an .889. So the key to the game tonight is get to the front of the net, shot volume, press their goalies, make them feel nervous, get after it early and you have to because the statistics show and we've talked about on the channel if the Rangers score first they win if they do not They do not win. Carcieri looks like he's going to be playing with JT Miller on the second line. Again, they've been feeding off of each other, and Carcieri has just been feeling it so far this year. The third line has to continue to win its minutes, and I imagine it's going to look similar to what it did the last couple of games. So Will Cooley will be back at center. And after tonight's game, the Edmonton Oilers await you in Edmonton, and it was not pretty the last game. And maybe Ryan McLeod is joining you on that night as a New York Ranger to play his former team. It would be interesting if that happened, but let me know, will the Rangers actually do it? Knowing Chris Jury, I know that it would be a little bit late to the party. At least I'm sure there's other teams already kicking tires on this, but, uh, I, I would do it. Let me know in the comments below, would you trade for Ryan McLeod comment? Yes or no. Let me know how you feel. I think it would be a perfect fit right now. Restructuring things a little bit. And it would make them a more dynamic team. But guys, my name is Darius Dominguez. This is Rangers Digest. Enjoy the game tonight. And hopefully the Rangers can pick up a couple wins here on a very crucial road trip.