Kevin Shattenkirk’s time in New York has not gone as well as he or the Rangers had hoped. Two years into his pricey contract, he found himself a healthy scratch at times last season. Not surprisingly, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that the team tried to trade the 30-year-old earlier in the season while being willing to retain 50% of his contract but had limited interest.
While Shattenkirk has never been known as a defensive dynamo, he had been a consistent point producer, notching at least 43 points in five of the six seasons before signing with New York. (The one season he didn’t was the lockout-shortened campaign.) However, that level of production hasn’t followed him; Shattenkirk had just 28 points in 2018-19, the lowest of any full season he has played.
New York has Neal Pionk and Anthony DeAngelo returning for next season on the right side while Brendan Smith, who Brooks notes is a buyout candidate, is also on the roster. The recently-acquired Adam Fox just put pen to paper on an entry-level deal and could very well push for a roster spot right away. That could very well push Shattenkirk outside of the lineup on a regular basis which should only increase their efforts to move him.
Shattenkirk has two years remaining on his contract that carries a $6.65MM AAV although the salary is lower than that in each season. While he hasn’t fit in well at all with the Rangers, there could be a team this summer that could show some interest depending on how things go on the trade market or in free agency. Even if that happens, it appears that GM Jeff Gorton will be selling quite low to do so, a rough turn of events for their prized free agent signing just two years ago.