5:19PM: Kravtsov was ranked 21 on TSN‘s trade bait board.
12:15 PM: Elliotte Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts podcast of Kravtsov, “I think he’s out there. It makes a lot of sense if the Rangers are going to make a move to include him to interested teams that might want to try him out next year. One of the questions that was being asked was if he was coming back to North America and I’ve been told that he is telling teams ‘yes,’ he plans on coming back to North America. The other thing is that he is going to have to go on waivers, so it’s not like teams are going to be sending him down to the minors, you’re going to give him a shot to play. Obviously, he is aware of that, they are aware of that and he is planning on coming back next year.”
11:59 AM: Elliotte Friedman wrote at Sportsnet that teams are doing their “due diligence” to make sure that Vitali Kravtsov will return to the NHL next season.
Larry Brooks wrote earlier this week that the Rangers will use Kravtsov as a trade chip ahead of the trade deadline or in the offseason. (NY Post Sports Plus)
Kravtsov has 13 points in 19 games in the KHL this season.
The Rangers reportedly included Kravtsov in their talks with Arizona about Jakob Chychrun.
For more on Kravtsov, click HERE.
Adam Rotter: Some people around the league believe that the two assets the Rangers are most interested to use in a trade are Kravtsov and their first round pick this year. They still have the defensemen, they still have other prospects and picks, but Kravtsov and their #1 are what they are hoping to use, possibly together, to land a top-six forward. I don’t know how eager they are to trade Kravtsov for a rental or for a third-line forward, but it also isn’t known what value he has around the league. Many teams think that with a change of scenery and fresh start that Kravtsov could still realize a lot of his potential, but others only view him as a second or third piece in a trade for a bigger player.