The Utah Hockey Club has a gaping hole they must fill on their blueline after Sean Durzi left Monday night's game against the New Jersey Devils with an injury.
Since then, Sean Durzi has been ruled out for the foreseeable future, which leaves Mikhail Sergachev as the only defenceman on the Utah Hockey Club who has been winning their even-strength minutes in terms of expected goals and high-danger chances at five-on-five.
Utah will likely use a combination of Robert Bortuzzo, Patrik Koch, or Maksymilian Szuber in Durzi's absence. However, none of these guys will be reliable on Utah's blueline, let alone fill Durzi's void. With Utah already struggling on the blue line, Utah will have to turn to players outside the organization to fill this void if this team wants to contend for an NHL playoff spot.
Here is a look at one defenseman (that is probably a longshot) that Utah Hockey Club General Manager Bill Armstrong should consider trading for:
The Utah Hockey Club should trade for these two defencemen
- Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers)
Lindgren is on injured reserve but should return to the New York Rangers lineup soon. He is currently signed to a one-year deal that expires at the end of this season.
Typically, a team like the Rangers would not be looking to ship off one of their better defensemen, and realistically, they probably are not. But they should be because the Rangers will not be able to afford Lindgren after this season, as they have already committed big money to Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba and will have to sign K'Andre Miller to a big contract at the end of the year.
Lindgren is already making 4.5 million dollars annually and will likely be due for a small pay raise after the year. With the Rangers already having an elite blueline without Lindgren, it could be a good idea to shop him before the deadline to get some extra cap space to bring in some depth scoring and another cheaper third-pair option.
Lindgren would be a great fit on this Utah blueline. He is excellent on the defensive end and is one of the best defensemen in the NHL at retrieving pucks on his own and getting the puck quickly up the ice. He does not provide much in terms of offence, but he is more than capable of moving the puck around the offensive zone and getting the puck to the net. Lindgren would be the shutdown presence that Utah is missing. The Rangers likely won't give Lindgren up, considering they are chasing a Stanley Cup, but it is worth the call to find out.