12:07PM: Darren Dreger tweets that McQuaid and Freddy Claesson are expected to be traded.
8:49AM: Calgary and Nashville have checked in on Hayes. (Dreger)
8:41AM: The NHL Trade Deadline is at 3PM Eastern today and the Rangers are believed to be engaged with multiple teams on trades for Kevin Hayes, Adam McQuaid, possibly Vlad Namestnikov and maybe others. (NY Post)
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On deadline day last year the Rangers made two trades:
- Ryan Graves to Colorado for Chris Bigras
- Ryan McDonagh and JT Miller to Tampa Bay for Vlad Namestnikov, Brett Howden, Libor Hajek, 2018 first round pick (Nils Lundkvist), 2019 conditional second round pick that becomes a first round pick if Tampa wins the Stanley Cup
So far the Rangers have only made one trade related to the deadline:
Kevin Hayes is currently ranked #3 on TSN’s Trade Bait Board, Adam McQuaid is 6, Chris Kreider is 32 and Vlad Namestnikov is 40.
It would reportedly cost a lot for a team to acquire Kreider from the Rangers.
Adam Rotter: Kevin Hayes is going to be traded and net the Rangers at least a first round pick and one other asset, likely to be a prospect. Hayes is the top center available which is good for the Rangers but most of the teams in on him are also looking at Mark Stone, and maybe Wayne Simmonds, so that may take a little while to sort out.
Adam McQuaid is likely to bring back one or two picks depending on how intense the bidding gets. The expectation is that it will be a 3rd round pick but the Rangers may try and get another pick as well.
Vlad Namestnikov has been scoring lately and been a solid Ranger for most of the season and there is an expectation he too will be moved. He may net a prospect, rather than a pick, since he is signed through next season. David Quinn likes him a lot so I don’t think the Rangers will move him just to move him, but he can be a nice top-nine addition for a playoff team.
Then there is Chris Kreider. I don’t believe he is going to be moved but if he is it will be because the Rangers landed a huge piece for their rebuild. Kreider will be 28 in April and should partner with Mika Zibanejad to be 2/3 of the Rangers top line for the next few years. I think he gets an extension around July 1 but until that is extension is signed the Rangers will take calls on him. They aren’t shopping him but if someone calls and offers them a lot, the Rangers would have to listen. I don’t think anyone will meet their price and that Kreider will remain with the Rangers for years to come.