On the New York Rangers …
Larry Brooks of the NY Post: For the majority of the season the New York Rangers basically had seven, top-six players, but slumps to Pavel Buchnevich and Jimmy Vesey has left them with five, top-six players.
The Rangers main need heading into the trade deadline though is a top-pairing right defenseman. The likelihood of finding a defenseman without giving up some of their depth at forward is nil.
A rental winger is a more realistic option.
They could move J.T. Miller into the top-six, but that would create a big hole on their successful third line with Kevin Hayes and Michael Grabner.
wonders if they should look for a more rugged top-six as opposed to a skilled winger. Would Alexandre Burrows be a rental option? Would he waive his no-trade clause? A third-round pick likely wouldn’t be enough. Maybe one of their seconds next year.
On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports: Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet 590 on the Pittsburgh Penguins and was talking about how GM Jim Rutherford said he would do whatever it takes to win this year, and that he’ll deal with fallout in the offseason.
“So yes, I think they are in it to win again and really in it to win again. They do have some cap issues, although some guys come off their cap in the next couple of years – Kunitz comes off, Daley comes off, Hornqvist comes off – depending on what they want to do with these guys. So they have some flexibility to do some stuff.
“But yes, I do think you have to worry about the Penguins going out and adding big.”
Nichols notes that the Penguins have a bunch of pending free agents – Chris Kunitz, Nick Bonino, Matt Cullen, Trevor Daley, Chad Ruhwedel and Pascal Dupuis.
