Rangers Seeking Scoring Help This Offseason

Back in mid-January, the New York Rangers announced that the team would be undergoing another “retool”, specifically avoiding the word “rebuild”. Although more change is yet to come, the team is more inclined to contend sooner rather than later, rather than tearing the organization down to the studs.

Positing several questions about the franchise moving forward, Peter Baugh and Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic opined that the Rangers should be active on the trade market this summer, particularly moving out defensemen for offensive help. The subject of trade rumors throughout the 2025-26 season, right-handed blue liner Braden Schneider, is the obvious candidate.

In their article, the pair wrote, “Drury is believed to be seeking a scoring forward, according to two league sources, with the San Jose Sharks among the forward-rich, defense-needy teams to watch.”  Leading up to the trade deadline, the Sharks were one of the teams connected to Schneider.

As the Rangers have stated to the public, they are seeking a retool rather than a rebuild; however, it remains unclear what that really entails. If they want NHL-caliber players in a trade with San Jose, they’ll likely need to include more than just Schneider.

Schneider is a classic defensive defenseman, typically scoring in the upper teens for points each season while averaging over 100 blocked shots and hits per year. His possession metrics are subpar at best, but that could be attributed to New York’s play style over the last few years.

The Sharks could use a big-body defenseman in their top four, but it’s unlikely that they would be willing to part with the necessary assets. New York would likely target William Eklund or Collin Graf to increase scoring output. Still, there’s no indication that San Jose is ready to make those kinds of changes to their forward corps, especially with so many unproven assets moving their way up the depth chart.

An intriguing trade partner may be more north of the border. The Vancouver Canucks are in immediate need of young defensive help, and have a goal-scoring winger who wants out of town. Winger Jake DeBrusk, 29, has surpassed the 20-goal plateau in over half of his seasons at the NHL level, and has indicated he’d be willing to waive his no-trade clause for a move.

Depending on how the Rangers value Schneider, they may be able to make a few tweaks to the trade to increase the value, but DeBrusk may be one of the better options available on the trade market.

Still, there is always the possibility that the word “retool” was always meant to make their fans more content, and the Rangers were comfortable acquiring prospects instead of NHL-ready players. If that’s the case, the Rangers could dangle Schneider to a few more teams than just San Jose or Vancouver.