5 free agents the Rangers can sign to get back to the playoffs

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - APRIL 8, 2018: SKA St Petersburg's Ilya Kovalchuk before Game 6 of the 2017/2018 Kontinental Hockey League Western Conference final best-of-seven playoff between CSKA Moscow and SKA St Petersburg at CSKA Arena; CSKA Moscow won the game 3 - 2. Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS (Photo by Stanislav Krasilnikov\TASS via Getty Images) /

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Photo by Mike Stobe/NHLI via Getty Images /

1. John Tavares

If the Rangers sign John Tavares, it would be the biggest heel turn the sports entertainment world has seen since Hulk Hogan joined the NWO. Who can imagine the Islanders captain wearing a blue, white, and red sweater? No one. But it would also be a way for the Rangers to address an important issue – they don’t have a franchise center.

After trading Derek Stepan, New York never properly replaced him. Mika Zibanejad is solid, but he’s just short of being a first-line center. Also, he has a pretty long injury history, making him an uncertainty. Tavares would give the Rangers an unquestioned top center. Brad Richards was good, but even at his best, he was closer to the bottom of the “first line center” tier than the top of it.

If the Rangers want a quick rebuild, what better way to do it than signing a center as good as Tavares? The Islanders captain had 84 points in 82 games this year. That’s really good. And you know who the last Rangers center to put up at least 84 points in a season is? Wayne Gretzky. Yes, it’s been THAT long since a top center has called Madison Square Garden his home.

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Signing Tavares wouldn’t be cheap. He’s going to command an average annual value that has eight digits to the left of the decimal point. But you know what? Tavares is worth it and the Rangers can make it work. Especially if they ship out Zuccarello and buy out Marc Staal. Both of those are things they should be doing anyway.

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