A "realistic ideal offseason" for the New York Rangers was put together by Arthur Staple of The Athletic and it lays out everything that could go right in making the offseason the best it could be. Some of what is laid out just won't happen, while one move involving the Chicago Blackhawks caught my eye.
This would see the Rangers trade Mika Zibanejad (20% retained) to the Blackhawks along with a second-round pick in exchange for future considerations. So, it would be a cap dump as Zibanejad will be the fourth highest paid player on the team at $8.5 million AAV next season and there are a number of contracts that are jumping up in price, including the ones that aren't yet signed.
Even though Zibanejad has been a long-time productive top-6 center, he didn't have a great season for the Rangers and the team brought in J.T. Miller who can now play center in the top-6 with Vincent Trocheck. So Zibanejad would be shifted over to the wing if anything, but over $12 million more has been spent on extensions already, and that doesn't include yet to be signed contracts for RFAs like K'Andre Miller, Matt Rempe, Will Cuylle, Arthur Kaliyev, and Adam Edstrom.
Zibanejad is signed until 2030 with a full no-move clause, so anything that happens, including going to a team that finished 31st in the NHL this season, will have to go through him.
I could only see the Blackhawks going this route if other plans don't work out. By this I mean if free agents like Mitch Marner, Brock Boeser, and Nikolaj Ehlers don't sign. The Blackhawks do need to do something to bolster their top-6 and Zibanejad would do that, but it is a lot of money and a long commitment. He scored 20 goals and 62 points in 82 games this season and is a 10-time 20 goal scorer, three-time 30 goal scorer, and one-time 40 goal scorer. He could be helpful at the start, but then I can see the 32-year-old becoming more of a burden by the time the Blackhawks are ready to compete. I would say a trade like this is possible, but not very likely at all.
