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Trade Rumors: Hurricanes, Rangers, Capitals

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The Carolina Hurricanes are undoubtedly going to finish the season as Metropolitan Division champions, and they’re making a challenge for the Eastern Conference title and President’s Trophy as well. But unlike most contenders, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun says that the Hurricanes aren’t willing to deal their 2023 first-round selection at the deadline for a rental player. The Hurricanes have already surrendered their 2022 choice as compensation for signing Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet last summer. While Carolina, based on the language of the tweet, is willing to move it for a player under contract, this likely takes them out of the conversation for rental defensemen such as Mark Giordano and Hampus Lindholm, who are sure to command first-round selections after Montreal received one in return for Ben Chiarot.

More trade rumors on this Saturday morning:

  • The Athletic’s Arthur Staple names Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell as “the most logical piece” for the New York Rangers to acquire at the deadline. Rakell, who has 16 goals and 12 assists in 51 games this season, wouldn’t fix the Rangers’ defensive issues in the slightest. But he would provide a more established scoring option for the Rangers to insert on the wing in the top six, and would help create better depth matchups for the third and fourth lines. While Alexis Lafreniere is performing solidly by most advanced metrics, the points aren’t coming for him despite playing alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. If acquired, Rakell could likely slot in there, allowing Lafreniere and Frank Vatrano to slot in on the third line when fully healthy.
  • While the Washington Capitals are still interested in goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir notes that general manager Brian McLellan is unwilling to move top prospects Connor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre, or the team’s first-round selection in 2022 in any trade. It’s likely a smart move for Washington, who faces an already impossible path through the Eastern Conference playoff gauntlet, and it’s hard to imagine that acquiring Fleury would change that meaningfully. It’s a smarter bet to play on house money with this roster and retain the pick to help reload the team’s prospect pool.

Rangers Have Looked Into Phil Kessel

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The Rangers are among the teams that have done some research into Coyotes winger Phil Kessel, ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports.  The 34-year-old is in the final season of his contract with Arizona carrying a $6.8MM cap hit, one that few playoff-bound teams other than New York can actually afford without requiring retention.  Kessel has just six goals in 60 games but has chipped in with 31 assists to sit fourth in team scoring.  Kaplan notes that Arizona’s asking price earlier in the season was a third-round pick which would be a reasonable price to pay to add some extra offensive depth on the wing.  The Rangers already made a move like that this week with the acquisition of Frank Vatrano but they still have cap and roster space to add more help on that front.

New York Rangers Acquire Frank Vatrano

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The New York Rangers have added to their forward group, acquiring Frank Vatrano from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a conditional 2022 fourth-round pick. The Panthers will receive the later of the two fourth-round picks the Rangers have. Florida did not retain any salary in the trade.

Vatrano, 28, turned into a huge success story after an early-career trade from the Boston Bruins. After scoring a total of 20 goals in 108 games with the Bruins, the team that signed him as an undrafted college free agent, he would go on to register 24 in his first season in Florida and 73 in his entire 273-game span. As the Panthers have gotten better though, filling out their lineup with other talented forwards, Vatrano’s minutes and role have diminished, to the point where he was a healthy scratch at times this season.

In 49 games, he has scored ten goals and 19 points, with two of those tallies coming last night in a win over the San Jose Sharks. That performance was apparently enough to interest the Rangers, who add a versatile scoring threat to a lineup that has at times been very inconsistent on offense. The price of a fourth-round pick is negligible for New York, who had two this season already and a pipeline filled with high-upside prospects, and there is very little risk in acquiring his cap given how much room they have this season.

Vatrano is in the final season of a three-year, $7.6MM contract he signed with Florida in 2019 and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. It appeared as though a return to the Panthers was unlikely because of how many other forwards they already had in place, meaning getting something at the deadline is a bonus.

Importantly though, the draft pick isn’t the thing to focus on here when it comes to what the Panthers received. Taking Vatrano’s $2.53MM cap hit entirely off the books at this point in the season will open up huge flexibility for Florida ahead of next week’s deadline, similar to how the Colorado Avalanche moved out Tyson Jost’s deal yesterday. The Panthers have been linked to several top names including Claude Giroux and Jakob Chychrun as they make a run toward the Stanley Cup.

In terms of the player’s future, Vatrano could be an interesting option for the Rangers to re-sign even, should he find a fit in New York. Though they already have several options on the wing, his ability to play both sides and proven track record scoring even in limited minutes could give them a nice option for lower in the lineup. There’s even a chance that he finds immediate chemistry with some of the other talented Ranger forwards and finds his way into the top-six on a regular basis. As a pending UFA, a chance to play on a competitive team was all that Vatrano could ask for if he was going to leave Florida, and he’s found that chance in New York.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic first reported the trade on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Alexandar Georgiev Switches Agents

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  • ESPN’s Emily Kaplan reports that New York Rangers’ goaltender Alexandar Georgiev has switched agents ahead of the trade deadline. Georgiev is now represented by Gerry Johannson of TSC Hockey. It is not immediately clear why Georgiev changed his representation, but the switch is noteworthy considering Georgiev is one of the more likely names to be moved ahead of the trade deadline.

Ryan Martin Named GM Of U.S. National Team

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USA Hockey has named Ryan Martin the general manager of the 2022 U.S. Men’s National Team, set to take part in the IIHF World Championship May 13-29 in Finland. Martin, who serves as the assistant GM of the New York Rangers, is taking over the U.S. role from Chris Drury, his current boss. John Vanbiesbrouck, assistant executive director of USA Hockey, released the following statement:

Martin will be assisted by Mike Grier, who currently works with the Rangers as a hockey operations advisor, and Chris MacFarland, an assistant GM with the Colorado Avalanche. This group will be trying to win the first gold at the event in more than 60 years, and only the third all-time. In 2021, 2018, 2015, and 2013, the U.S. team took home bronze.

Questions Surround Some Of New York's Better Trade Chips

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  • While the Rangers have been perceived as a team that has some quality trade assets, Newsday’s Colin Stephenson questions how many of those can realistically be moved. The situation between Russia and Ukraine raises questions about whether or not a team will be able to get Vitali Kravtsov out of Russia if they were to trade for him while some of their younger roster players that could move in the right trade – such as goalie Alexandar Georgiev and even forward Filip Chytil – have been inconsistent.  Even with those questions, GM Chris Drury still has ample prospect capital to deal from over the next couple of weeks if he wants to add some players to help New York for the playoffs.

Rangers Sign Tanner Fritz To AHL Extension

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  • There has been a flurry of activity in the AHL of late, headlined by an extension for veteran forward Tanner Fritz. The Hartford Wolf Pack announced that their plus/minus leader has inked a new contract for the 2022-23 season. Fritz, 30, has played his pro career almost exclusively in New York and Connecticut, spending five years with the New York Islanders and their affiliate in Bridgeport before moving to Hartford this season. While appreciative of a new contract, Fritz is probably eyeing a contract with the New York Rangers next, if possible. In Toronto, the Marlies have elevated NHL veteran Joseph Blandisi from a PTO to a contract for the remainder of the season. Blandisi, 27, has been a near point-per-game player for the Marlies this season and is well-deserving of a real contract. Down in Charlotte, the Checkers are bringing in some fresh blood from the junior ranks. Defenseman Robert Calisti of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and forward Xavier Cormier of the QMJHL’s Rimouski Oceanic have each signed two-year contracts with the club, beginning next season. The two combined for 72 points in 81 games this season and the Checkers hope that production translates to the pros.
  • If it seems like all the action right now is outside of the NHL, while the trade market remains all bark and no bite, it’s true. Despite the usual speculation, there have been nearly no early moves made this season with the deadline just over two weeks away. Outside of Tyler Toffoli and Nick Ritchie/Ilya Lyubushkin, the only trades made of late have included future considerations, seventh-round picks, and third-string goaltenders. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the holdup on the market comes from the buyers rather than the sellers. He believes that the salary cap concerns, especially from those teams managing long-term injuries, is slowing deal-making. However, there may be hope that things will pick up soon, as LeBrun notes that sellers are getting antsy. Contenders with cap space, such as the Predators, Rangers, Wild, and Bruins, could be the beneficiaries if other cap-strapped teams continue to drag their feet.

New York Rangers Extend Jonny Brodzinski

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6:41 pm: Per CapFriendly, Brodzinski’s new two-year deal carries a $762,500 cap hit and is two-way in nature. The breakdown is as follows:

2022-23: $750,000 NHL salary / $315,000 AHL salary ($362,500 guaranteed)
2023-24: $775,000 NHL salary / $325,000 AHL salary ($362,500 guaranteed)

9:11 am: Ahead of the trade deadline in a few weeks, the New York Rangers have locked up some of their forward depth. Jonny Brodzinski has agreed to terms on a new two-year contract extension, keeping him from becoming an unrestricted free agent this summer. The financial details of the contract were not immediately released.

Brodzinski, 28, has played just five games for the Rangers this season but that doesn’t mean his value to the organization has been negligible, the veteran forward has been a star for the Hartford Wolf Pack, scoring 18 goals and 39 points in 36 games. Armed with a powerful shot and good offensive instincts, Brodzinski has always been an excellent offensive player at the minor league level.

While that offense hasn’t really materialized at the NHL level, or even resulted in much NHL experience–he has 13 points in 67 games, most of which came in 2017-18 with the Los Angeles Kings–having a top minor league talent like that in the organization is still quite helpful. Not only can he support the Rangers’ prospects as they come through the system, but he’s also a strong injury call-up whenever necessary.

Given the fact that he’s on a two-way deal this season, it seems likely that the new contract is of a similar variety. It will likely once again come with a hefty minor league guarantee though, one that makes sure Brodzinski is well compensated for his play with Hartford. In fact, PuckPedia later reported that the two-way contract will carry an NHL cap hit of $762.5K, with minor league guarantees of $362.5K in each season.

This Day In Transactions History: Lightning Acquire Ryan McDonagh And J.T. Miller

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Four years ago today was the 2018 NHL trade deadline, one that featured several notable swaps, including Evander Kane to the Sharks, Tomas Tatar to the Golden Knights, and Paul Stastny to the Jets.  But the biggest one of all came from the Lightning and Rangers.  New York had released their letter committing to rebuilding their franchise earlier in the month and had already made some moves to shore up their future.  This was their biggest one with Tampa Bay moving out several future assets in an effort to win now.

The Lightning picked up defenseman Ryan McDonagh along with winger J.T. Miller in exchange for winger Vladislav Namestnikov, center Brett Howden, defenseman Libor Hajek, plus a first-round pick in 2018 and a second-rounder in 2019.  It has only been four years but it’s safe to say it worked out a whole lot better for Tampa Bay than it did for New York.

McDonagh immediately became a stabilizing force on the back end for the Lightning.  They didn’t need him to play upwards of 24 minutes a night as he was with the Rangers but gave them someone beyond Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman that was capable of shouldering a key load on the back end.  Then-GM Steve Yzerman wasted little time working on an extension with McDonagh and as soon as he became eligible to sign one in July, McDonagh inked a seven-year, $47.25MM deal to ensure he’ll be sticking around for the long haul.

Miller didn’t exactly have the same fate.  He was quite productive down the stretch for Tampa Bay, averaging nearly a point per game after the trade but struggled in the playoffs and didn’t produce as much the following year.  That resulted in him being traded to Vancouver for a pair of draft picks, including the 2020 first-round selection that they ultimately flipped to New Jersey in 2020 as part of the Blake Coleman trade.  Coleman, of course, played an important role on Tampa Bay’s Cup-winning teams in 2020 and 2021 so even though Miller didn’t have the type of impact they were hoping for, they still ultimately got a good return out of his inclusion in the trade.

As for what the Rangers got, things haven’t gone quite so well.  Namestnikov was quiet down the stretch but his performance with Tampa Bay before the trade was still good enough to land him a two-year, $8MM contract that would take him to unrestricted free agency.  One year later after a quiet season, he was flipped in a cap-clearing trade for minor league blueliner Nick Ebert and a fourth-round pick in 2021 that was used on Kalle Vaisanen.  Not a great return on the impact forward they were hoping Namestnikov would be.  He’s now in Detroit and is a candidate to be moved by March 21st.

Howden was a first-round pick of the Lightning back in 2016 (27th overall) and profiled as a key two-way center after putting up some impressive numbers in junior.  However, that offensive output didn’t materialize in the pros and after scoring just 16 goals in 178 games over parts of three seasons with the Rangers, they gave up on him, sending him to Vegas for a 2022 fourth-round pick.  Howden has actually done fairly well this season with 18 points in 39 games for the Golden Knights despite spending a lot of time on the fourth line.

Hajek was another player who impressed at the junior level and it looked as if he’d become a quality NHL defenseman before too long.  While he was a regular for a lot of last season, he was a fixture on the third pairing with sheltered minutes and this year, he has been a frequent healthy scratch.  They don’t want to lose him for nothing on waivers but this is a situation where if they move him, the return will almost certainly be as underwhelming as Howden’s was.

As for the draft picks, it’s a bit too early to make any significant conclusions on those.  The first-rounder yielded defenseman Nils Lundkvist and while he has been fairly quiet in his first season in North America, his track record of offensive success in Sweden is promising.  The second-rounder turned into center Karl Henriksson who isn’t putting up big numbers in Frolunda of the SHL but is holding down a regular spot in the lineup.  Both could certainly be part of New York’s future with Lundkvist getting a sniff of NHL action earlier this season.

For New York to have any chance of salvaging any sort of value from this trade, they’ll need those prospects to become impact players.  They’re down to Vaisanen, Lundkvist, Henriksson, a fourth-round pick, and Hajek (or whatever limited return they get for him).  That’s not a great return from a trade that they were hoping would give them several long-term building blocks for the future, a cautionary tale for how even trading for players that appear to be quality prospects can still not work out as well as intended.  Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has won a couple of Stanley Cup titles since then and while McDonagh’s contract may not age great considering he’s signed through 2026, he’s still playing an important role for them.  The biggest swap of the 2018 deadline looks like a clear-cut victory for them as a result.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Trade Deadline Primer: New York Rangers

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With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away.  Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make?  We continue our look around the league with the New York Rangers.

The Rangers opted to shake things up over the offseason with Chris Drury being promoted to GM and Gerard Gallant taking over as their new head coach.  The roster was also reshaped and the results have certainly been promising as they’ve gone from a team that missed the playoffs to one that is within striking distance of first place in the East.  As a result, Drury will be busy looking to add but with their salary cap situation, they will be balancing the short term and the long term with any acquisitions.

Record

32-13-5, 3rd in the Metropolitan

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$20MMM today, $33.5MM in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2022: NYR 1st, NYR 2nd, STL 2nd, NYR 4th, WPG 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th
2023: NYR 1st, NYR 2nd, NYR 3rd, NYR 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th, NYR 7th

Trade Chips

Most contenders wouldn’t want to necessarily subtract from their current roster but it’s an option that New York may need to consider with backup goaltender Alexandar Georgiev.  The 26-year-old has made it known that he’d like to play more but with Igor Shesterkin in the fold, that’s not going to happen barring injury.  The pending restricted free agent carries a $2.425MM cap hit and is owed a qualifying offer of $2.65MM, one that might be a bit too pricey for them for next season.  There are some teams that would likely want to get a longer look at Georgiev to see if he could be a longer-term option although the Rangers would be wise to get another goaltender if they opted to move Georgiev now with veteran Keith Kinkaid serving as their third-string option.

Things have not gone well for winger Vitali Kravtsov in his time with the Rangers.  The 22-year-old didn’t make the team out of training camp, went back to the KHL, and it’s clear a change of scenery would be beneficial.  However, considering he was the ninth overall selection in 2019, his draft status may carry some weight and be appealing to a team looking for a prospect that’s a little more developed over a draft pick.  He’s a restricted free agent this summer but it’s hard to see him commanding a big raise on his $925K AAV since he only has 22 games under his belt.

Young defensemen are always desirable commodities to rebuilding teams and New York has one on its roster in Libor Hajek that is struggling to get into the lineup.  He has played in just 14 NHL games this season plus five more on a conditioning assignment but is only a year removed from playing in nearly 80% of their games last year.  He signed for his qualifying offer last summer for just over $874K and the lack of playing time doesn’t give him a case for much of a raise.  With youngster Braden Schneider starting to establish himself, the path to playing time is even steeper now for Hajek and he seems like a logical player that could be added into a trade.

The three-year, $7.5MM given to blueliner Patrik Nemeth raised some eyebrows and he has had a limited role on the third pairing so far without doing a whole lot.  If Drury looks to bring someone in with term left on their contract, Nemeth is the type of player they could try to use as a salary offset.

Other Potential Trade Chips: F Morgan Barron ($925K through 2022-23), F Austin Rueschoff ($842K, RFA), F Evan Vierling (unsigned prospect)

Team Needs

1) Forward Depth: Injuries have thinned out New York’s forward depth at times this season and has left their bottom six group a little weaker than they’d like.  Replacing Sammy Blais’ grit is one area they’d likely want to add but bringing in a two-way player that can score a bit and kill penalties is another element that would certainly be beneficial for them to add.

2) Top-Four Defender: Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba are proven top-four pieces but after that, New York’s back end primarily consists of younger players or depth veterans like Nemeth or Jarred Tinordi.  A veteran that can allow them to take a bit of pressure off their younger players would help with an emphasis on being able to play a key defensive role.

3) Long-Term Center: Mika Zibanejad has his extension for next season so he’ll be in place for the long haul.  But Ryan Strome’s fate remains in question and Filip Chytil likely isn’t ready to step onto the second line if Strome doesn’t re-sign.  If there’s a way to get a long-term second pivot, that would be a nice pickup for Drury even if it means that Strome winds up moving on.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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