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St. Louis Blues: Top 5 Trade Targets For The 2020 Season

By Jason Martin

NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 21: Nashville Predators winger Austin Watson (51) and Lightning forward Patrick Maroon (14) fight during the NHL preseason game between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning, held on September 21, 2019, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 21: Nashville Predators winger Austin Watson (51) and Lightning forward Patrick Maroon (14) fight during the NHL preseason game between the Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning, held on September 21, 2019, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 10: Rickard Rakell #67 of the Anaheim Ducks looks on between plays during a game against the Los Angeles Kings at Honda Center on March 10, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 10: Rickard Rakell #67 of the Anaheim Ducks looks on between plays during a game against the Los Angeles Kings at Honda Center on March 10, 2019 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images) /

Hear me out, even though this might sound insane, and it may encourage you to close out your web browser forever, but it could happen. The Anaheim Ducks are not going anywhere anytime soon, and Rickard Rakell would bring a lot of value to a team looking to rebuild.

It’s a terrible situation for the Ducks, and the season hasn’t even started yet. A longtime fixture in Anaheim Ryan Kesler is already lost for the season and is on the IR, and they had bought out Corey Perry who is now a member of the Dallas Stars.

Rakell, meanwhile, is one of the lone bright spots on the team and he is signed for a reasonable rate for the next handful of years. The 26-year-old is making $3.789 million for the next three years before becoming an unrestricted free agent.

Rakell’s contract has to be one of the most team-friendly deals in the NHL, maybe finishing in a close second behind Colton Parayko‘s $5 million a year.

Rakell was drafted in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft and made his debut a year later in 2012, but only appeared in four games. In his first full year as an NHL player, Rakell didn’t light the world on fire but had a productive season.

His first full year in the show was in the 2014-15 season. He played in 71 games for the Ducks in that year and netted nine goals and 22 assists.  After that season, Rakell has recorded at least 18 goals, and when he has played in at least 70 games, he has never scored lower than 20.

Rakell has two 30-goal seasons under his belt. In 2016-17, he netted 33 goals and followed up that performance with a 34 goal season in the season after.

Trading for the 26-year-old would cost an arm and a leg. He is young and has a team-friendly contract and the Ducks would probably ask for a first-round pick and a guy like Jordan Kyrou just as a starting point.

However, if you ask me if I would give up Kyrou and a first-round pick or two, I’m taking the deal every day of the week and twice on Sunday.

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