Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brady Skjei was not fit for the Ranger's rebuild.
On PuckTalkCS I talked to New York Ranger Twitter-verse class clown Based Shesty this week.
He brought up how Brady Skjei was hailed as the club's next number-one defender, something that was lost in the Rangers rebuild madness.
WATCH THE CONVERSATION HERE:
The New York Rangers drafted Brady Skjei 28th overall in 2012. He played 7 games at the end of the 2015-2016 season before his first full year in 2016-2017. He looked like the future of the team posting 5 goals and 34 assists.
New York was eliminated by the Ottawa Senators in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. In response, the Rangers added Kevin Shattenkirk to a defense consisting of Ryan McDonagh, Brendan Smith, and the blossoming Skjei. Heading into the next year it looked like an all-league top four.
Skjei was in a similar boat as Jimmy Vesey. They were good young players on a team that crumbled and began a rebuild. At first, Skjei appeared to be a factor in the future, as he inked a mammoth contract in July 2018 (5.25 million x 6 years). It was an awkward and large contract for a team that was just tearing down major contracts, and Skjei could not replicate his 2017 performance.
He played for the Rangers in 2019-2020, and at that trade deadline, Jeff Gorton moved him to an upcoming division opponent in the Carolina Hurricanes. The pick the Rangers received as the return was traded so the club could hop over the New Jersey Devils to select the team's current third-pairing anchor Braden Schneider.
The play of Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba, and Panarins contracts, and the need to sign Chris Kreider, were prioritized. One could say that foresight allowed the team to turn into a contender.
Brady Skjei looked like the future, but he has become one of the few Rangers throughout history that hasn't amounted to their full potential following a trade. Especially at the time when he was just 24 years old. The contract was not timely and the team opted to gamble on players like Fox, Lindgren, and at the time, "glorified 20-goal scorer" Chris Kreider.
He is gone but not punishing New York for the trade. How pleasant.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quKdBYzcmi4[/embed]
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