With Rangers prospect Nils Lundkvist’s trade request now well-known, efforts continue to find the youngster a new home for the upcoming season. If the belief that he won’t attend training camp in New York holds true, that could be a trigger point for GM Chris Drury to avoid any distractions heading into camp while getting a chance to integrate whichever player or prospect they get for the rearguard at training camp.
With that in mind, here’s a look at some of the potential suitors for Lundkvist. Since he’s looking for a team that will have a chance to give him an NHL opportunity in the short-term, the focus will be on those squads although there undoubtedly will be others that will kick the tires. Los Angeles is a team that has been speculated as a landing spot with their deep prospect pool but they don’t really have an opening on the right side of their back end for him to slide into so they don’t appear among the teams below.
Detroit: The Red Wings have two right-side rearguards in place in Calder winner Moritz Seider and young veteran Filip Hronek. There are questions behind those two, however. Gustav Lindstrom has yet to establish himself as a full-time player while Mark Pysyk will miss the first half of the season after undergoing surgery in July to repair a torn Achilles tendon. If Lundkvist was to go there and do well, it could free them up to move Hronek who is the type of blueliner that could yield a nice return for the Red Wings.
Detroit has a couple of young centers that the Rangers would likely show some interest in. One is Joe Veleno who is close to being ready for full-time duty while Jonatan Berggren, who was picked just five spots after Lundkvist in 2018, had a very promising first season in North America in 2021-22. They also have an extra second-round pick at their disposal if New York ultimately decides that a draft pick is the right return. Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported a few days ago (subscription link) that at least one team had a second-rounder on the table in an offer for the blueliner.
Montreal: At the moment, the right side of the back end for the Canadiens is David Savard, Justin Barron, and Chris Wideman. The only established full-time player out of that group is Savard. Montreal is likely to use several prospects throughout the season (Jordan Harris and Kaiden Guhle among them) but those are left-shot options, not righties like Lundkvist. It’s plausible that Lundkvist could jump into their lineup right away. Jeff Gorton, who was GM at the time Lundkvist was drafted, now works in Montreal’s front office.
While the Rangers wouldn’t be likely to get a return that could help them right away, Montreal’s prospect pool is one of the deeper ones around the league with recent center picks like Jan Mysak, Owen Beck, and Riley Kidney potentially being of interest. They could also deal from the left side of their defensive pool if New York would prefer a defenseman in return with Harris, Mattias Norlinder, and prospect Jayden Struble being possible options.
San Jose: The only established must-play right-shot defender on their roster is Erik Karlsson. Matthew Benning got a four-year deal but could bounce in and out of the lineup while Ryan Merkley could stand to spend more time in the minors before becoming an everyday regular. With Brent Burns not really being replaced after his trade to Carolina, there’s a definite need for a second defenseman to help shoulder the offensive load. Worth noting, one of New York’s former top scouts, Chris Morehouse, is now heading up San Jose’s amateur scouting ranks. He wasn’t there when Lundkvist was drafted but he’ll have some extra familiarity with the blueliner.
Center Thomas Bordeleau didn’t look out of place in his brief NHL stint late last season and acquitted himself well at the World Championship as well and is the type of young center that might entice the Rangers. Merkley himself could be an option if Drury decides to look for a similar player, one that will be more amenable to being in the minors to start the season. The Sharks don’t have an extra second-round pick but the one that they do have projects to be a good one based on the state of their roster heading into training camp.
Seattle: While the addition of Justin Schultz lessens their need for an extra offensive defenseman, the third RD spot is far from secure with William Borgen spending a lot of time as a healthy scratch last season. That’s a spot that Lundkvist could conceivably battle for or least position himself to be the first one recalled.
The Kraken don’t have the deepest of prospect pools to work with since they’ve only been around for two drafts but they do have three second-rounders for the 2023 draft. Parting with one for a potentially near-ready young defenseman would be a defensible move for the second-year squad.
Vancouver: The Canucks have been busy this summer when it comes to their forward group but nothing has been done with their back end yet and it’s not for a lack of trying. Vancouver already has an offensive weapon in Quinn Hughes but someone like Lundkvist could potentially help run a second power play group and perhaps take some minutes from veteran Oliver Ekman-Larsson who is getting near the point where he will need to be managed more carefully. With Tucker Poolman’s availability uncertain for training camp, there’s a spot on the right side of their back end up for grabs.
As for possible trade options, Linus Karlsson is coming off a strong SHL season and shouldn’t be too far away from being NHL-ready which would give New York another option down the middle. Alternatively, winger Nils Hoglander is someone that, on the surface, might be on the fringes of making Vancouver’s roster with their additions on the wing. Perhaps there’s a trade to be made featuring those two?
Of course, this isn’t an exhaustive list and other teams will inquire but if Lundkvist and agent Claude Lemieux’s intention is to have him start the upcoming season in the NHL, that does limit the number of viable opportunities for a trade if the Rangers decide to move him before training camp.
They don’t have to move Lundkvist, however. He’s still waiver-exempt and even if he doesn’t want to report to the minors, they can send him there and suspend him for not reporting. If it’s going to be more of a drawn-out process, a loan overseas (as they did last year with Vitali Kravtsov) is also on the table. There are certainly non-trade options they’ll want to consider but if they do decide to go ahead with a trade, they’ll have some viable teams to consider.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kings are still thin on defense. Mikey Anderson and druzi show promise but generally aren’t regarded as consensus top 4 caliber players. I could still see a trade involving some of our center or wing depth
I think the Canucks are a logical fit. Maybe something like Schenn and a 2nd? Rangers don’t sacrifice any depth on the back end in acquiring Schenn and they get the most valuable commodity you can use at the deadline – draft picks.
Why would we want Schenn? A second round Vancouver pick is not enough for this kid. Rangers would just keep him at that point.
I can’t imagine they’re getting much more than a second for a guy who other teams know isn’t going to report to them. Seems like a pretty decent return before his value is completley gone.
I don’t think Detroit is a fit anymore. And not for Berggren or Veleno. Stevie likes a little more meat on his D-men. Talk to Kenny and the Oil.
And a Hoglander fpr Nils is not happening.
Toronto sandin for him
Where would he rank with other RHD prospects like Bernard-Docker and Thomson? I thought he might be a logical candidate for Dorion to target as their RHD situation is pretty scary, but if he is of similar value as those guys, I guess there’s really no point.
A first rounder would be sufficient. Keep that youth pipeline since they’re deep at defense.
You’re not getting a 1st Rd pick for a disgruntled unproven undersized defenseman that’s demanding a trade. You should be thrilled with a 2nd rd pick at this point.
Well…lol
“The only established full-time player out of that group is …”
Language used a lot in this writeup, which implies that Lundkvist would be an improvement on the guys otherwise mentioned.
Except that he doesn’t hit. He hasn’t scored. His metrics are brutal. He’s given the puck away five times as often as he’s taken it away. He was a healthy scratch much of the time when he was up, and even when Gallant put him in the lineup, he didn’t trust him to play more than 14 minutes a night. His numbers in Hartford were decent, not great. He’s done NOthing so far to merit trade demands.
If this kid wasn’t a 1st round pick, no one would be imagining he ought to be anywhere else but in Hartford, learning the North American pro game, and you’d think by now that of all teams the Rangers would’ve learned that Having Been A First Rounder doesn’t magically make you a quality NHL player. IMHO, if some other GM wants to give them a 2nd rounder for the kid, the Rangers should say “Woo,” and “hoo” and take it.
I still think my drouin with 50% retained for lundkvist and ryan reaves is a good frame work for a deal if the ra gers want something to help them this season. 50 point forwards are what team look for at the deadline. Habs could still throw in a ok prospect and or a 3rd or whatever to get it done but i really feel this is the type of deal they would want. Of they ate looking for futures then the habs have that in spades but im sure thats not what they want
And I still think it’s nonsense. Drouin is a legitimate NHL player, who’s had his problems but can score. Reaves no longer is a NHL player, and Lundkvist hasn’t proven himself to be one yet. Hughes would be seven shades of moronic to make that deal as a straight swap, never mind retaining salary, never mind throwing in more.
The only “type of deal they would want” is something that IMPROVES THE TEAM.
Nils for Greig makes too much sense so that’s why it will never happen.
Well … “sense” to whom? Greig is a legitimate prospect who lit up the World Juniors and was scoring nearly two points a game in the WHL. He needs to spend a year or two in Belleville, but so far he’s very much on track.
The Rangers would have to offer up quite a bit more than just Lundqvist to get Ottawa to move Greig
Agreed. Perhaps a lesser prospect from the Sens. Sens could use another young D man with potential.
He will stay and play in Sweden. Drury doesn’t take leftovers for former 1st rd pick
This guy was the 28th pick, people need to stop acting like he was some highly touted top 10 pick. The Wild jettisoned his fellow countryman Filip Johansson who was picked 4 spots in front of Lundqvist for a 2nd round comp pick. Yes the Johansson pick was more than suspect at the time but that’s the value of a late first round pick that’s unproven.
Would be awesome to see Montreal get involved with him. More RD’s with skill the better.