The Blues didn’t have the pieces and space like the Panthers did
The Athletic: Yes Jordan Kyrou is a good player, but he’s not Jonathan Huberdeau and the St. Louis Blues didn’t have a ‘MacKenzie Weegar‘ to offer the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk.
Not enough salary cap space was another reason the Blues didn’t land him. They have 10 players that have some type of trade protection and clearing enough space wouldn’t have been easy.
A stroll through a New York Rangers mailbag
Arthur Staple of The Athletic: (mailbag) Though the New York Rangers have some free agents that they need to re-sign after next season, it’s doubtful they trade defenseman Jacob Trouba. He has a full no-movement clause until 2024 and then it switches to a 15-team no-trade list.
Believe that Rangers GM Chris Drury would have some interest in trading Artemi Panarin wanted a trade and would waive his no-movement clause. He’s lost his two closest friends on the Rangers over the past two years – Pavel Buchnevich and Ryan Strome. It would be either a massive salary dump trade or an exchange of bad contracts.
The Rangers are likely won’t add much more to their lineup, maybe a left-handed defenseman on a PTO.
Believe there have been initial contract extension talks between K’Andre Miller and the Rangers. It won’t be cheap to extend him. Talks may not get serious until after the Rangers re-sign Kaapo Kakko.
The only way Tyler Motte returns is if he took a $1 million or less.
If Nils Lundkvist doesn’t make the team he could be traded, and the return wouldn’t be much.
Think that the Rangers will eventually trade Filip Chytil. If they move a different young forward, Chytil could be moved to the wing after next season.
The Rangers did talk to teams about Kakko before the draft. He’s still only 21 years old, can be a top-six winger, and possibly around $2 million a season. That isn’t bad to have.