The 7 Right Wings the Rangers Should Be Targeting at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline

The New York Rangers are going to add at the 2024 trade deadline. Possibly multiple players. If they did so the previous two seasons as underdog playoff teams, then they certainly plan to as they sit atop the Metropolitan Division.

As we previously highlighted, an addition at center is definitely possible. There is also a clear need to add at right wing. In fact, if Filip Chytil is able to return this season, then right wing would become the top priority to address.

Here are seven players could address that need and might be available prior to March 8th's trade deadline.

There are several reasons to believe Jake Guentzel won't be a Ranger.

If the Penguins even want to give up on their season and move him at all, it's even less likely they'd wish to do so inter-division. The Rangers would have to be missing from Guentzel's 12-team no-trade list. If those barriers were surpassed, would the Rangers want to acquire a career left-winger to play on the right side?

A team that has issues creating offense at five-on-five would get a major boost from one of the league's best goal-scoring wingers at 5v5; Guentzel has scored 56 total over the last three seasons. And while a player such as he might need an elite distributor like Sidney Crosby to maximize his output, it's not as if the Rangers are lacking in playmakers. And while his history at left wing does pose an issue, there's an argument to be made that his left-handedness would be an asset on the off-wing.

The path of least resistance does not lead to New York City, but if the top winger potentially on the market is an option, then the contending Rangers have to at least see if there's a deal to be made.

The Seattle Kraken aren't out of the playoff race yet, but they're going to need to go on a sizable run the next month to stave off "seller" status. The methodical and analytically-driven Kraken are particularly likely to prioritize asset accrual over hopes of a miracle playoff run.

Jordan Eberle tied for 48th among all NHL forwards by even strength points (102) over the previous three seasons. If we assume that the Rangers would like to improve at five-on-five offense and leave the top unit of their second-ranked power play untouched, Eberle would be a clear fit.

His seven goals and 16 assists in Seattle this season reflect a player who is both unlucky and suppressed by general team-wide offensive stagnation. A solid defensive winger who has high-end playmaking instincts and the ability to create off the rush, Eberle would be a great complement to Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.

You're going to have to look past the box score numbers here. Duclair's eight goals and eight assists in 43 games are indicative of the Sharks' general ineptitude.

Duclair is a player you want on the ice when your team has the puck. In Florida, he had a good cast of players who ensured as much. His career highs of 31 goals and 21 assists in 2022 proved as much. In San Jose, he's forced to spend way too much time defending. His center, Mikael Granlund, is an offensive-zone playmaker who has sunk every line he's played on the last few seasons.

The former Rangers third-round pick would get that support in New York on a line with high-end possession-driving centers like Vincent Trocheck or Filip Chytil and a defense that can move the puck. He'd bring speed through the neutral zone and the ability to shoot from distance; two qualities that the Rangers currently lack on the right wing.

The Rangers moved major assets at the 2022 and 2023 trade deadlines. The health status of Filip Chytil could also force the team to prioritize a move at center. If General Manager Chris Drury wants to or has to, buy from the clearance rack, then a different Sharks winger might be on the radar.

Kevin Labanc was once a youngster on the up-and-up, tallying a career-high 56 points in 2018-19. His production dropped the next few seasons before he lost most of the 2021-22 season to a shoulder injury. He's since found himself in Sharks' head coach David Quinn's doghouse and has just two goals in 32 games this season.

Even if Labanc never hits 56 points again, he still should be a middle-six scoring winger who can both shoot and create in the offensive zone. It's not the most exhilarating trade idea, but his stock is at an all-time low and he could probably be had for a later draft pick.

The fit here isn't a hard sell. Tarasenko went to the Rangers at the deadline last season and, while the team floundered out of the playoffs in round one, he held up his end of the bargain. The Russian totaled 21 points in 31 regular season games and scored three goals in the playoffs against the Devils.

Now on a one-year deal in Ottawa, Tarasenko has scored 12 goals and 19 assists in 41 games. Those are not the superstar numbers of his past, but he is still a bonafide top-six winger.

Particular to the Rangers' interests, 11 of Tarasenko's 12 goals have come at even strength. Tarasenko has been relegated to the Senators' second power-play unit for most of the season, which is the role he'd presumably take in New York as well. The Rangers need even-strength offense and Tarasenko provides it.

Tarasenko has a full no-trade clause, but he'd likely welcome a move back to New York. His ability to limit his destinations should decrease Ottawa's leverage and lower the rental price.

This could be an opportunity for Drury to right a wrong.

The Rangers moved Buchnevich in 2021 for the return of Sammy Blais and a 2nd-round pick. Blais infamously played 56 games in New York without scoring a single goal before being tossed back to the Blues in the Tarasenko trade.

Meanwhile, Buchnevich has turned into a bonafide star. The Russian has operated at basically a point-per-game pace over three seasons, collecting 69 goals and 107 assists in 179 games. On top of that, the former third-round pick is one of the league's best drivers of possession, making plays in all three zones to tilt the ice in his team's favor. Per Evolving Hockey, Buchnevich ranks 26th among all NHL forwards by Goals Above Replacement since he joined the Blues.

The Rangers have moved major assets in the past two seasons to acquire rental players. Buchnevich would cost a heavy price, but the 28-year-old has an undervaluing $5.8M cap hit through the 2025 season.

Patrick Kane is going to be an option for the Rangers for all the same reasons he was last season. No need to rehash that.

Let's dig deeper and look at a different and possibly more healthy and reliable option in Detroit. General Manager Steve Yzerman signed Daniel Sprong over the summer as part of a push to get the Red Wings into the playoffs. They're on the outside looking in but it's hard to blame Sprong. The 26-year-old has 12 goals and 18 assists in 46 games at a $2 million cap hit while averaging under 13 minutes per game.

Sprong is a weak defensive player and he's not really a great offensive driver, either. But his hands are great in the offensive zone. He could replicate the success of 2022 trade deadline acquisition Frank Vatrano, who thrived on the Rangers in a sheltered role.

Stats are up to date as of Tuesday, Jan. 23