10/20 | Larry Brooks writes that Kravtsov’s relationship with Chris Drury was not the reason why he refused his assignment to the AHL. (NY Post)
The reason, according to Brooks, had to do with Kravtsov believing that there would not be a spot in the top-six for him with Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko in those spots. (NY Post)
He adds that during his exit meeting last season, the Rangers asked Kravtsov to stay in New York for a bit and “work through a conditioning program designed by the training staff.” (NY Post)
10/19 | In The Athletic, Arthur Staple writes of many issues that have come up in the last few years between Vitali Kravtsov and Chris Drury.
Drury was the GM of Hartford when Kravtsov was first sent down in 2019, went back to Russia and then returned to play in Hartford.
Staple writes that when Kravtsov exercised his European Assignment Clause in 2019 to return to the KHL, Drury told him that he’d “quit” on the team.
He adds that when Kravtsov joined the Rangers for their series against Carolina in the 2020 Bubble that Drury “dressed down” Kravtsov, in front of his teammates, for not working hard enough. Staple adds that there was also a situation where Kravtsov missed a team bus from the hotel to the rink during the Bubble. (The Athletic)
Staples writes that there were no issues last season until his “contentious exit meeting” where Drury expressed concern about his conditioning, but Kravtsov was “ready to head back to Russia and wasn’t willing to listen.” (The Athletic)
Staple writes that a trade does not “appear imminent” and that inquiring teams have been more interested in the overall situation than what the Rangers are looking for in return. (The Athletic)
Larry Brooks writes in his NY Post Sports Plus Newsletter that there is no rush for Drury to trade Kravtsov and that he can wait until he is able to get the return he wants.
He adds that Kravtsov may hold more value in the offseason as part of a bigger trade and/or that a draft pick related trade would likely still be available around the draft. (NY Post Sports Plus)
In terms of interest, Brooks notes that there were teams “interested” in Tony DeAngelo last season but no one “was willing to make a legit offer for him.” (NY Post Sports Plus)
Adam Rotter: This is sure turning into Lias Andersson 2.0. Andersson was reportedly nearly traded, at least once, to Edmonton for Jesse Puljujärvi, but it’s believed that Edmonton wanted more and now Puljujärvi is still with the Oilers and takes many of his shifts next to Connor McDavid.
Chris Drury has always been known as a calculated guy and obviously the “tough love” approach with Kravtsov hasn’t worked. Maybe he was trying to play “bad cop” to John Davidson, Jeff Gorton, David Quinn or Kris Knoblauch’s “good cop,” but Kravtsov never took to that style and probably thinks that Drury has it out for him in some way. Maybe Drury does or maybe Drury thought that these incidents would help motivate him in some way.
Either way, Kravtsov’s time is almost certainly done with the Rangers and now it’s just about when and where a trade happens. My guess is that the Rangers loan him to the KHL at some point so that he can play, but unless someone has a player in a similar type of situation, it could be a while until there is a trade. I think the preference would be to acquire a young top-nine winger in a one for one type of trade, but maybe he gets packaged with a defenseman in a bigger deal? Maybe he does end up getting traded for draft picks and the Rangers turn around and use those same picks to get a roster player? The focus is on now, so I don’t think the Rangers are looking to get a draft pick as a return, I think that any return will either go right to the Rangers or Hartford or be used to get someone who can step into the lineup.