The decision would be easy if Barclay Goodrow hadn’t risen to the occasion both in the playoffs and in the conference final against Florida. 

But of course No. 21 did, just as advertised when he came to New York as a quasi-free agent after freshly minted GM Chris Drury acquired his rights from Tampa Bay and signed the winger to a six-year deal with an annual $3,641,667 cap hit. 

So the calculus has become more difficult. The decision has become more challenging for Drury and the hierarchy. The Rangers need more players with playoff fiber, not fewer. They need as many known playoff quantities as they can get as they mount up one more time against the forces of no-tax Florida. 

But the conclusion should be the same: The Rangers need more size and speed. They need to open salary-cap space. The Rangers benefitted from Goodrow’s presence in going to the conference final in two of three seasons on Broadway, but now, in the cold light of 14 days away from elimination, it is time to move on from the forward, who will turn 32 at the end of February. 

Goodrow scored two goals in the Rangers’ final victory of the season, the Game 3 overtime triumph over the Panthers, after also scoring in Game 2. He had scored six goals in 13 playoff games after recording four in 80 games during the regular season. Goodrow clearly had been one of the club’s best players against Florida. 

Then, Goodrow got 5:12 of even-strength ice time through the first two periods of Game 4; 4:32 of even-strength ice through the first two periods of Game 5 then 7:33 at even-strength through the first two periods of Game 6. 

In other words, at his best, and when head coach Peter Laviolette was challenged to come up with 12 healthy forwards while facing a premature end to their championship quest, Goodrow still received limited ice time. 

I’m not keeping the alternate captain at $3.641M-plus on the fourth line, not at this point of the team’s evolution. If his teammates haven’t yet absorbed his lessons in leadership, they never will. Goodrow was signed to anchor the third line. That never really turned out. 

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The NHL buyout period, under which the Rangers would actually gain a cap credit of $247,222 for this season, runs from 48 hours after the Cup Final ends until June 30. Drury should not rush for a buyout that would ding the Blueshirts with a cap penalty of $3.502M in 2026-27. Instead, the GM should seek to move Goodrow in a trade that could materialize at the June 28-29 entry draft. 

Goodrow should have value on the market with his deal now having just three years to go. Surely he has more value as a mentor to Connor Bedard than Corey Perry ever did in Chicago. Utah — nee Arizona — may need help in getting to the cap floor and always needs help in veteran character. The Sharks and Ducks are in need of veteran leadership. 

There is, however, no way I am adding a sweetener to the deal or retaining salary/space. Sorry, not going to do it, and neither can Drury. The Rangers have already sacrificed their second-rounder in each of the next three drafts, their third-rounder the next two drafts and their fourth-rounder in 2025 and 2026. There are limits on the number of contract retentions a team can hold at any time, so retaining on Goodrow might have an impact on future hypothetical moves. Retention and sweeteners are off the table. 

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If the Blueshirts cannot make a hockey trade, a buyout would be in order — with the dead-cap charge ranging from $1.111M to that one-time hit of $3.502M over the next six seasons. I’d rather deal with that than adding a draft pick to move Goodrow’s contract the way the team had to do with Patrick Nemeth. 

A Goodrow buyout would leave the Rangers with approximately $15.549M of cap space entering July 1 on a shadow roster that includes nine forwards, four defensemen and two goaltenders but does not include impending restricted free agents Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider, or bubble forwards Matt Rempe, Adam Edstrom and Jonny Brodzinski. 

Moving Goodrow also creates an opportunity for one of the kids from Hartford or for an offseason acquisition. It’s tricky business to move a known quantity to open up a spot for a youngster — part of the thinking behind the Pavel Buchnevich trade was that Vitali Kravtsov was going to need top-six time on the right — but this is the time for the Rangers. 

This is the time to move on from Goodrow. 

There is no NHL equivalent to the basketball life led by Jerry West, who passed last week at age 86. 

The closest is probably Mario Lemieux — right? — who saved the Penguins for Pittsburgh as the first-overall pick in 1984 then saved them again by buying the team and presiding from the owner’s suite when there were orchestrated hints of a move to Kansas City. 

I say no, but would the Canes say no to a one-for-one if the Blueshirts were to offer K’Andre Miller straight up for impending restricted free agent right wing Martin Necas? 

The moment the NHL decided not to prosecute cheap-shot-artist-on-cheap-shot-artist crime when Sam Bennett’s Game 3 rabbit punch to Brad Marchand’s jaw KO’d the Boston center for the remainder of the second-round series is the moment the NHL endorsed the Panthers’ candidacy for the Cup. 

It’s not even about officiating standards at this point. It is about player safety. But of course, it is so rarely about player safety. 

Isn’t it time for the league to create a Department of Player Safety? 

Sometimes the sacrifice is awe-inspiring, and so is the physical commitment over the course of the playoffs. 

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But I think it would be equally as satisfying and perhaps more entertaining if the playoffs presented the same showcase of skill that the league exhibits over six months. 

Me, I’m all in for the Utah Yoots.