Former Ranger Vitali Kravtsov will reportedly sign a two-year deal to return to Traktor in the KHL. (PHR)
Kravtsov played in 16 games with Vancouver after the Rangers traded him for Will Lockwood and a 7th round pick so that they could create the cap space needed to acquire Patrick Kane.
He had one goal and one assist in 16 games with the Canucks and 5 goal and 5 assists in 48 career games with the Rangers.
The Rangers drafted Kravtsov 9th overall in 2018.
2/27/23 | On the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman said that he thought that the Flyers had been in on Kravtsov.
2/25/23 | 7:07 PM: Dhaliwal tweets that Vancouver has been after Kravtsov for a year, the two teams have been in discussions for the last four week, that the Rangers original ask was a mid-first round pick and that in recent days the Rangers had asked for Nils Hoglander.
4:02 PM: Rick Dhaliwal tweets that the Canucks thought the price for Kravtsov was too high a few days ago and wonders if the Rangers had initially asked for Nils Hoglander.
3:19 PM: Darren Dreger said that there “wasn’t a market” for Kravtsov and that there is some concern he could return to the KHL.
3:09 PM: The deal is Kravtsov to Vancouver for William Lockwood and a 7th-round pick in 2026.
Lockwood, 24, was a third-round pick in 2016 for Vancouver.
The Rangers are reportedly seeking “as high a draft pick as possible” in exchange for Vitali Kravtsov. (32 Thoughts)
2/13/23 | 8:57PM: Gerard Gallant spoke about Kravtsov today and said (NYR): “It’s not easy. Like I said, I think I’ve mentioned before to him and you guys that he’s a top nine player, and right now, he’s not in our top nine and he’s not going to be a fourth-line player, he doesn’t play in that role for our team. We like him, I like him, he’s a good kid. He’s got to continue to work hard when the chance is available, take advantage of it. You don’t give anything to anybody, you got to make them earn it. Again, I’m happy with the way our guys played the other night…our top nine has been really good and if you look at one of those spots and say ‘take him out to put Kravy in,’ I don’t know where you do it. I like…Kravy has come a long way this year, it’s not that we don’t like him, I’m putting out my top-nine forwards out there and right now he’s not one of them.”
11AM: On the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman said “Chris Drury is really quiet, he’s another one of the super quiet GMs, so it’s difficult to find out what is going on here. It’s possible, the GMs are really careful about this chain now, so they tend to be more careful. I think it’s possible the Rangers sent something out on him yesterday, nobody would confirm it. He played Friday, didn’t play Saturday and I think there is an understanding now that the time has come and I think the Rangers have made it very clear that if you have interest in Kravtsov, give us a call. I think we’ll see where this goes. I think it’s clear that the coach is not a huge fan and the player wants to play and you do reach a point where you’ve gotta say ‘okay, it’s time’ and I think we are at the point now with the Rangers.”
10:33PM: Gerard Gallant said this about Kravtsov after the game, “Just that he’s day to day, upper body and we’ll evaluate him tomorrow. You can never tell much early on after a game, the doctors will tell us tomorrow.”
8:40PM: Vitali Kravtsov will not return to tonight’s game after suffering an Upper Body injury. (ESPN)
Kravtsov was hit by Victor Hedman at 7:01 of the first period.
He played three shifts for a total of 1:28.
As expected, Vitali Kravtsov has returned to New York to get a “head start” in preparing for training camp. (Walker, The Athletic)
Kravtsov left the Rangers and returned to Russia instead of accepting an assignment to Hartford at the start of the season.
He signed a one-year deal in June that is worth $875,000.
After the Rangers were eliminated from the playoffs, Chris Drury said that the team has never “wavered” from their belief that Kravtsov is an “all-world talent” that can do “a lot of things on the ice that” other players can’t. (NY Post)