Larry Brooks of the NY Post: The New York Rangers are eligible to bring over 2017 first-round pick Vitali Kravtsov over at any point this season. He’s off to a good start with Traktor Chelyabinsk of the KHL this season and they are expected to leave him there until the KHL season is over.
The KHL regular season is expected to be over on February 27th, with the playoffs ending by April 30th.
Don’t expect the Rangers to shift either Adam Fox or Anthony DeAngelo from the right side to the left.
The current left-side could consist of Ryan Lindgren, Brendan Smith and Jack Johnson, with Libor Hajek, K’Andre Miller and Tarmo Reunanen also fighting for a spot.
Vince Z. Mercogliano of Lohud: The New York Rangers got Ryan Strome and Brendan Lemieux under contract last, and their roster heading into next season is pretty much set with not a lot of changes from last season.
Before Strome and Lemieux were re-signed, they explored the idea of moving one of their RFAs to help upgrade in other areas. It’s not known how close they got. Strome and Anthony DeAngelo would have held the most value. Both are signed for two more years, but trade talks could be revisited at some point.
Without adding a sweetener to a Strome deal, teams may not have been willing to give up a younger centerman.
Nils Lundkvist may replace DeAngelo as some point, but he’s only 20-year old and is without an entry-level contract. DeAngelo could shift to the left side this year.
The Rangers probably didn’t make enough roster improvement to be in a position to make a deep playoff run.
The Rangers weren’t looking to spend big on their blue line this offseason and went cheaper with Jack Johnson one-year deal.
If they go with a 21-man roster they’ll have about $2.342 million in cap space. Any future deals will need to keep in mind that they have a list of RFAs after next season and Mika Zibanejad will be a UFA after the 2021-22 season.