The New York Rangers acquired Tyler Motte from the Ottawa Senators yesterday. In exchange, they sent Julian Gauthier and a conditional 7th round pick to the Senators. Let’s take a look at the deal.
The Pieces
Tyler Motte
Tyler Motte joins the Rangers in a deadline deal for the second straight season. He was helped stabilize the bottom six last year and the Rangers are no doubt looking for more of the same this season. His projected impact has been trending downward this season, however, and he now profiles as a 4th line forward. Motte is a pending UFA.
Julian Gauthier
Julian Gauthier also profiles as a 4th line forward, with projected performance that is remarkably similar to Motte. His 5v5 actual goal rate is much better than Motte’s this season, however we should expect both to regress toward their projected rates over the long term. Gauthier is a pending RFA.
Picks
The 2023 7th round pick (NYR) sent to Ottawa is conditional. If the Rangers advance to the second round of the playoffs, the pick will upgrade to the lower of the Rangers’ two 6th round picks (NYR and WPG). In any case, the pick is highly unlikely to yield an NHL player.
The Verdict
Let’s be honest: if this trade went through on deadline day, it would not have it’s own post to dissect it. It’s a minor trade involving 4th line forwards that doesn’t really move the needle for either side.
The Rangers are re-united with Motte, who they clearly liked in last season’s stretch drive and playoff run. His projected impact is less than it was last season though, so it may be a stretch to expect the same impact as he provided a year ago.
The Rangers do have a cap crunch coming this summer, with Filip Chytil, Alex Lafreniere, Vitali Kravtsov, and K’Andre Miller all pending RFAs. It may have been unlikely that the Rangers qualified Gauthier anyway, so acquiring pending UFA that they are familiar with seems like a reasonable move.
It’s been a disappointing season in Ottawa. Having fallen out of the playoff race, getting some value out of a pending UFA is a reasonable move. They replace Motte with a similar player who is a few years younger and comes with team control as a pending RFA. While the late draft pick is unlikely to bear fruit, there is always a chance it does so it’s inclusion in the deal is a small win.
Historical player data from Natural Stat Trick. Contract data from CapFriendly.
