6/20/19 | 7:29PM: The Rangers are not going to qualify Freddy Claesson, thus making him a UFA. (NY Post)
1:18PM: Larry Brooks writes that as of Wednesday evening the Rangers had still not had a “substantive conversation” with Kreider’s agent about an extension. (NY Post)
Brooks adds that the Rangers are not planning to go after any RFAs like Mitch Marner, Brayden Point or Matthew Tkachuk. (NY Post)
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10:10AM: TSN’s Trade Bait board now lists Jimmy Vesey at #7, Chris Kreider at #20 and Kevin Shattenkirk at 27.
Frank Seravalli writes that the Rangers are believed to be in “multiple discussions” and that Vesey is the “most likely to go.” (TSN)
He notes that the Rangers have been searching for a trade partner for Kevin Shattenkirk and are now “mulling” a potential buyout. (TSN)
6/18/19 | 1:28PM: Kreider’s agent has submitted his list of 11 teams that he would not accept a trade to. (Pierre LeBrun, Athletic)
11:01AM: Following the Jacob Trouba trade, Darren Dreger tweeted that the Rangers are “likely not done yet” and that players such as Chris Kreider, Jimmy Vesey, Vlad Namestnikov and Pavel Buchnevich “potentially in play.”
He adds that it could be an “interesting week/weekend” for the Rangers.” (Dreger)
On TSN1050 on Tuesday morning, Dreger said “talk about a rebuild on the fly and expediting that rebuild, it helps when you have Kaapo Kakko coming and Kravtsov coming on the wing as well. That is why they are more open to trade discussions on Kreider, Vesey, Namestnikov and Buchnevich. I think we can understand why those names are in play from a Rangers perspective and I think that Jeff Gorton wants to keep getting business done. Many were surprised the Rangers were able to close on Trouba as swiftly as they did. I think Trouba made it abundantly clear that there were certain teams he would go to and that list wasn’t five teams long or ten teams long, I think it was one or two teams long. When you are in a predicament like that it’s best to just cut bait.”
Dreger said on TSN 690 radio this morning, “they know they need to continue with balance and they have experience with Henrik Lundqvist and there has been some rumor and speculation about him but I don’t see Hank going anywhere unless he goes to Jeff Gorton and says he wants a chance but I don’t believe that is going to happen. You dive deeper and the balance between veteran and youth is obvious. You have what they have coming, Kaapo Kakko is a winger that can play center but he is probably going to start in the NHL as a winger. They have Kravtsov, another winger they have high hopes for, someone they think could be an impact guy immediately. That starts to free up opportunity. I look at Kreider as more likely to go, I look at Vesey as more likely to go and Namestnikov and Buchnevich as players on the radar as well. Gorton is going to be busy and is trying to turn things around.”
On his conference call Monday night, Jeff Gorton said:
- He hasn’t thought too much about buyouts but that may change closer to the draft
- He’s had “short conversations” with Chris Kreider’s agent and expects more to come
- He has a “ballpark” of what he thinks Jacob Trouba’s contract will be and that he and Trouba’s agent agreed they will talk “over the next few days.”
When asked if there might be more moves to come, Gorton said “I hope so. I hope there are more things out there, there is a lot of talk and names out there and ways to improve the team. We are excited to head to Vancouver and see what lies ahead.”
Kevin Shattenkirk is the only Ranger list on TSN‘s trade bait board but he has dropped from 9th to 24th on the list.
The Rangers are expected to have around $19 million in cap space.
Adam Rotter: More moves are expected from the Rangers but it’s unclear at this point which players will be somewhere else next season. Brendan Smith (buyout or trade) and Vlad Namestnikov (trade) are the two players likeliest to move followed by Kevin Shattenkirk and Jimmy Vesey. Buchnevich is someone many teams are asking about but the Rangers preference is to sign him and keep him as part of the rebuild. Chris Kreider is in a bit of a different category because the decision on him has to do with his contract, age, roster construction, and the Rangers ability to lure Artemi Panarin. The next few days, and certainly weeks, will answer a lot of the questions surrounding the Rangers and determine who is coming to training camp for year two under David Quinn.