Why Rangers Chris Drury waiving Barclay Goodrow was cold-blooded

After speaking to multiple sources on Wednesday, there is widespread belief that Barclay Goodrow had included the Sharks on his 15-team, no-trade list that GM Chris Drury got around by placing No. 21 on waivers, where San Jose exercised the first claim to take the two-time Cup-winner.

This was ruthless.

And this is what championship organizations do.

After losing the 2022 final after two consecutive Cup championships, the Lightning told Ryan McDonagh that if he didn’t waive his full no-trade clause to accept a deal to Nashville, he would be put on waivers. McDonagh accepted the deal.

Thirteen years earlier, the Lightning pulled the same thing with Dan Boyle, telling the defenseman with the no-trade clause that if he didn’t accept a trade to San Jose, he would be put on waivers and claimed by the Atlanta Thrashers.

We’re told that Goodrow’s 15-trade list included teams in less-than-desirable locations and those who are not contenders. San Jose would fit into that last category. But the 31-year-old’s feelings did not enter into this.

Drury and the hierarchy reached the conclusion that the Rangers needed to remove Goodrow’s $3,641,667 cap hit — through 2026-27 — from the ledger in order to compete for a championship. So they acted in cold blood.

I wouldn’t want anything less.

This is a transactional business. Goodrow has been paid well and will continue to be paid well. He did not get a no-move clause when he signed his six-year deal in 2021. He has always been vulnerable to a trade.

The Rangers struck when they could and cleared a substantial amount of space they will need over the next three seasons while attempting to turn 10 playoff victories into 16.

They need to get bigger, faster, more equipped for the final four and if anyone thinks Tyler Toffoli is the answer, I’m not sure what the question is.

We’ve been told by several folks that Goodrow — who scored six goals in 16 postseason matches after recording four in 80 games during the regular season — is not happy about how this went down. I guess I don’t blame him.

But it’s not about Goodrow’s feelings. It’s about Drury and the hierarchy keeping their eyes on the prize. The Rangers could not justify carrying a fourth-liner with a nearly $3.642M cap charge whose penalty-kill numbers were strikingly inferior to those posted by the club’s other primary killers.

Goodrow provided value over his three seasons. If you think he was disrespected in the end, what did Don Draper say to Peggy Olson? Oh, right: That’s what the money (was) for …

A long time ago, Ray Ferraro signed a three-year free-agent contract with the Rangers that included a fourth-year team option. Then GM Neil Smith traded Ferraro to the Kings after 65 games in the ill-fated deal at the 1996 deadline for Jarri Kurri, Marty McSorley and Shane Churla.

I remember people suggesting that no free agent would ever sign with the Rangers after this type of machination. If only (Dread) Scott Fraser and Val Kamensky had taken that advice. Players signed with the Rangers because it was in their and their family’s best interest.

No one is going to be reluctant to sign with the Blueshirts because of Goodrow.

One Cup since 1940. None since 1994.