NHL Trade Rumors: Rangers Listening On Two More Huge Names
With Igor Shesterkin now on injured reserve after a scary lower-body injury, the runway to turn it around is shrinking fast, and that’s why the league is buzzing about New York potentially turning into a rare kind of seller.
The Athletic’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano framed Shesterkin’s timeline as the swing factor, but the bigger point is obvious. If the Rangers can’t stack wins soon, the math starts pushing Drury toward tough calls instead of wishful thinking.
Rangers willing to sell some huge names
According to RG.org’s James Murphy, Drury has been letting teams know he’s open to a real roster-for-roster jolt, and it’s not limited to a change-of-scenery prospect like Brennan Othmann. The report says Drury has been gauging interest in Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck.
Zibanejad has been a longtime core piece on an $8.5 million AAV deal with full no-movement protection, and he’s still producing, sitting at 15 goals and 22 assists in 43 games with a hefty chunk of his damage coming on the power play.
Trocheck, who was just named to Team USA's Olympic roster, is on a $5.6 million AAV contract with more limited trade protection, and he’s chipped in 10 goals and 15 assists in 30 games, plus he’s the type of center contenders love because he can play in tough minutes and still finish.
Multiple reports suggest Drury isn’t eager to wait until the March 6 deadline, with the Olympic roster freeze looming as an earlier pressure point. If the Rangers don’t gain traction, the expectation around the league is that something significant could happen before the freeze, and Zibanejad or Trocheck are the kinds of players that actually change a room and a team's cap sheet.
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