8:13 PM: Larry Brooks writes in the NY Post that Drury is someone that checks on everyone who might be available and that he wouldn’t be surprised if the conversation started with the Jets calling the Rangers.
6:06 PM: Winnipeg reporter Ken Wiebe wrote at Sportsnet that Lundkvist was on the Jets wish list during the Andrew Copp discussions.
Wiebe also notes that the Rangers have been linked to fellow Winnipeg center Marc Scheifele. (Sportsnet)
4:34 PM: According to Francois Gagnon of RDS, the Rangers are very interested in Winnipeg’s Pierre-Luc Dubois.
The Rangers were linked to Dubois in January 2021 before he was traded to Winnipeg for Patrik Laine.
Dubois, 24, is an RFA and is two-years away from being a UFA. He reportedly told the Jets that he is interested in testing free agency in 2024.
He had 28 goals and 32 assists last season in 81 games for the Jets.
5:11 PM: Elliotte Friedman said on The Jeff Marek show today “I do think that after the news came out they got some calls ‘what are you thinking here? What are you going to do?’ The thing I get the most is that Cheveldayoff is patient. He will do what he needs to do which he thinks is best for his team. Someone told me don’t expect a rush judgment there.”
Adam Rotter: This isn’t surprising as the Rangers, even with the extremely slim chance that Columbus would trade him in the division, were really interested in Dubois prior to his trade to Winnipeg. Chris Drury is in charge now, instead of Jeff Gorton and John Davidson, but the feeling is that Dubois remains a big target.
It’s an interesting match because the Rangers and Jets, obviously, connected on the Andrew Copp trade, so you’d figure that Winnipeg already knows who they like and don’t like with the Rangers prospects and young players. Some of the guys that the Rangers probably wouldn’t move for Copp would certainly be in play for someone like Dubois. Salary cap issues aside, Dubois and Mika Zibanejad would combine to be one of the best 1-2 center combos in the league. Dubois is big, can be physical and, especially if Ryan Strome isn’t coming back, has a history with Artemi Panarin from Columbus. You’d be able to replace the chemistry that Panarin and Strome had by putting Panarin with his center from his time in Columbus.
It’s an idea that makes sense, but then you have to factor in the salary cap, what the Rangers are giving up and if New York is where Dubois wants to be. The Rangers almost certainly don’t make this trade without a long-term extension for Dubois as part of it, but if Dubois has two more good seasons he will likely command a higher salary as a UFA than the Rangers would likely give him now. He’s not going to make more than Mika Zibanejad, so would he get the same contract that Jacob Trouba did? 7-years and $8 million per season? That would be in the ballpark of what guys like Tomas Hertl, Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene and some others have signed for lately. They aren’t all comparable because of certain situations, ages, and contracts that were signed whether they were RFAs or about to be UFAs, but in terms of production it is sort of in-line. Could the Rangers make that cap hit work for the next couple of years until the cap goes up? How much of the overall team depth would be given up by adding another big salaried player?
In terms of what they would give up? Winnipeg is in a weird place where they can tear it down, keep going with what they have or try to re-tool on the fly. They already own the Rangers first this year and my guess is that they would want players over picks. You’d think that any deal for a more established and consistent center would include Filip Chytil going back the other way, and then what about Kaapo Kakko? What about Nils Lundkvist, Zac Jones, Brennan Othmann or Matthew Robertson? If they can make it work I think it would be an interesting move, but they’d have to free up some cap space somewhere else so that they can fill out the roster.