Vincent Z. Mercogliano of Lohud: Re-signing RFAs Filip Chytil, Libor Hajek and Igor Shesterkin are givens for the New York Rangers.
Decisions will need to be made AHL free agents Gabriel Fontaine, Tim Gettinger, Patrick Newell, Ty Ronning, Brandon Crawley and Yegor Rykov and Adam Huska.
The Rangers have $19.5 million in projected salary cap space for next season. They will have their eye on another forward and a defenseman. Do they want to have Ryan Strome and Chytil as their second and third-line centers?
John Vogl of the Athletic reports the Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams said he’s okay with having Jack Eichel at their training camp.
USA Today reported the Rangers offered up Pavel Buchnevich, the No. 15 pick and other assets for Eichel but it obviously wasn’t enough.
Other interested teams include Minnesota Wild, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and Montreal Canadiens.
The Rangers weren’t going to include Alexis Lafreniere but would they include Kaapo Kakko? Having Eichel and Zibanejad center Lafreniere, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Vitali Kravtsov would make two nice lines.
Adam Fox may be eyeing Cale Makar‘s $9 million deal. Zibanejad could also be thinking $9 million on his next deal.
Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic: A source is saying that Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula wants the team to send Jack Eichel to the Western Conference, which would take the New York Rangers out of the running regardless of what the asking price is.
If the Rangers were to be in consideration for Eichel, they’d have to pay up a lot more than say the Minnesota Wild would.
With Seth Jones signing for $9.5 million and Cale Makar at $9 million, what is it going to cost the Rangers for Adam Fox?
Fox will be an RFA after next season and Mika Zibanejad will be a UFA.
If they were to land Eichel, it seems doubtful they could keep Zibanejad.
A source is saying that goaltender Igor Shesterkin and forward Artemi Panarin are “livid” after they trade Pavel Buchnevich. They likely weren’t alone.