The New York Rangers have been one of the best teams in the NHL during the 2023-24 season and continue to dominate at both ends of the ice and on the scoreboard. While they have slowed down in recent games, they have dealt with injury issues and adversity quite well this season when they needed to and continue to be a Stanley Cup favorite. This season, the Rangers will be buying near the trade to improve their roster to go all-in for a Stanley Cup. One player who could become a trade piece following some drama with his current team is forward Jordan Kyrou.
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Kyrou has been a huge piece of the St. Louis Blues’ success during his tenure with the team, having won a Stanley Cup with the team back in 2019, but breaking through offensively in the years following. He is a strong offensive player who would provide strong scoring depth for the Rangers should the Blues choose to move on from a few of their players at the trade deadline. The Blues haven’t been great during their 2023-24 campaign, and they could become sellers and embrace a rebuild as early as this season, which the Rangers should take advantage of.
While Kyrou just signed a massive contract extension with the Blues, his 15-team no-trade list doesn’t kick in until the 2025-26 season, giving the Blues free range to trade him wherever they want before that. While New York is an attractive city to play in and the Rangers have rarely had issues having players want to play there, they should play it safe and try to bring him in sooner rather than later. Although he does have a massive $8,125,000 cap hit, which will be hard to bring in, the Rangers should try and make it work.
Kyrou’s Hockey Career So Far
Kyrou is a 25-year-old right-shot forward currently playing with the Blues. He was drafted in the second round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft at 35th overall by the Blues after a stellar offensive showing with the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), where he finished third on his team in scoring. During his draft year in the 2015-16 season, Kyrou scored 17 goals and added 34 assists for 51 points through 65 games, placing behind only Pavel Zacha and Travis Konecny in points that season.
Kyrou returned to the Sting the following season, was named an assistant captain, and exploded offensively. He scored 30 goals and added 64 assists for a team-leading 94 points through 66 games. He played one game in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Chicago Wolves and had his first taste of professional hockey but didn’t register a point. Kyrou would return for one final season with the Sting during the 2017-18 season and beat his point totals from the season before.
Kyrou scored 39 goals and added 70 assists for 109 points through 56 games, yet again leading his team in points. He represented his home country of Canada at the World Junior U20 Championship, where he scored three goals and added seven assists for ten points through seven games. Kyrou earned his first taste of NHL action during the 2018-19 season, splitting the season between the NHL and AHL. In the AHL, he scored 16 goals and added 27 assists for 43 points through 47 games, and with the Blues, he scored one goal and added two assists through 16 games.
Kyrou earned a full-time NHL spot with the Blues during the 2020-21 season, where in his first full season, he scored 14 goals and added 21 assists for 35 points through 55 games and slowly earned a reputation as a strong player with top-six forward potential, and he was able to live up to that hype the following season. During the 2021-22 season, Kyrou scored 27 goals and added 48 assists for 75 points through 74 games, which still stands as his career high in assists and points. In 282 games as a Blue, Kyrou has scored 89 goals and added 127 assists for 216 points, which comes out to a 0.77 points-per-game average.
What Would it Take for the Rangers to Acquire Kyrou?
Kyrou’s $8,125,000 price tag will be tough for the Blues to move and for the Rangers to acquire if the two teams try to make something work. I would assume there would be a third team involved to retain some salary on Kyrou’s deal, and the Rangers would have to pay the team a prospect and a draft pick to take on that salary for multiple seasons. A rebuilding team like the San Jose Sharks, Columbus Blue Jackets, or Arizona Coyotes makes sense to do something like that.
Regarding what it would take for the Rangers to bring him in, they would have to move at least a first-round draft pick, a prospect, and a player that can somehow replace Kyrou immediately. Hypothetically, if the Rangers can find a third team to take on some money and can work through all of the no-trade clauses involved, a package of Barclay Goodrow, Brennan Othmann, and a first-round pick makes total sense for the Rangers and the Blues should be all over that.
This deal would be massive for both sides and is one that requires plenty of moving parts. Hopefully, if the Rangers decide to try to add some scoring to their roster before the trade deadline and Kyrou becomes available, they should be all over it and try to make it happen because he would be a perfect fit for the team. He provides exactly what the Rangers are missing in the top-six, and it’s another complimentary scorer. Having him on the first line over Blake Wheeler heading into the playoffs would be a massive upgrade and one the team should try to make.