NEW YORK — It’s been a bit less than five months since the New York Rangers dumped Barclay Goodrow to the San Jose Sharks via waivers. San Jose is in town for its only visit to Madison Square Garden and it’s not a stretch to say Goodrow would love to show his old team something on Thursday.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said in his usual understated way when asked about extra motivation when the Sharks face the Rangers on Thursday. “I didn’t like how things were handled (over the summer), that’s just how it went down. I didn’t like what happened but you have to move on. It comes with the job.”
Goodrow rejected a trade to the Sharks, who were on his 15-team no-trade list, in June. Shortly after that the Rangers placed Goodrow, who has three years at a $3.641 million cap hit left on his contract, on waivers and there was clearly an agreement in place between Chris Drury and Sharks GM Mike Grier — who was an adviser to Drury when the Rangers traded for and signed Goodrow — that the Sharks would claim Goodrow and take on his entire salary for no return.
This was no violation by the Rangers, since Goodrow only had the 15-team no-trade clause and not a full no-move clause. But it seemed to violate the spirit of the contract that Goodrow signed and left a bitter taste in the mouth of a player who wasn’t a terribly productive Ranger over three years but had some big moments, especially during the 2024 playoff run to the Eastern Conference final.
Goodrow also took note of the rumors swirling around Rangers captain Jacob Trouba a week after Goodrow was claimed by San Jose. Trouba’s name surfaced as a potential trade candidate to, as with Goodrow, move salary off the books ahead of free agency. Trouba was not close to being dealt, though, and waivers would not have provided any takers on Trouba’s $8 million AAV that has a year beyond this one left.
“It definitely feels a little different there,” Goodrow said of the Rangers. “It’s unfortunate to see Troubs’ name dragged through all that, especially when that’s the captain, the leader in that dressing room. I don’t know what that was all about. So it definitely seems a little bit changed over there.”
Goodrow’s start to this season with the Sharks, the team with which he signed as an undrafted free agent back in 2014, has been slow. He scored his second goal and point of the season in Philadelphia on Monday. But rookie head coach Ryan Warsofsky had Goodrow skating on the wing with 2024 No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli at practice on Wednesday, filling a top-six role that Rangers coach Gerard Gallant once spotted Goodrow in during his Rangers tenure.
“We’re trying to find someone in that role,” Warsofsky said. “Barclay’s been really good for us here, really consistent … we want someone that can retrieve pucks, win battles.”
Goodrow was headed to Connecticut for dinner with a few of his old teammates on Wednesday night, so there’s no hard feelings for anyone inside the Rangers room. He might not feel the same about the executive suite, but after Thursday he should be able to put last summer behind him.
“I still have a lot of close friends on that team,” Goodrow said. “Have a lot of good memories, a couple of long playoff runs. I loved my time there.”
(Photo: Eakin Howard / Imagn Images)
