Elliotte Friedman: Have heard that the New York Rangers have given forward Vitali Kravtsov permission to talk with other teams to look for a trade. Kravtsov didn’t make the Rangers opening day roster.
Larry Brooks: Have learned that Kravtsov is expected to be suspended as he refused to be assigned to the AHL.
Frank Seravalli: Kravtsov was drafted 9th overall in 2018. He’s unhappy for not making the Rangers opening roster.
In the past few months he’s switched agents to Dan Milstein who will talk to teams about a change of scenery.
Vince Z. Mercogliano: Spoke with Rangers coach Gerard Gallant who made it sound like Kravtsov was beaten out by others – mainly Julien Gauthier and Dryden Hunt.
Vince Z. Mercogliano: Gallant on Kravtsov: “We like Kravy. He’s a good hockey player… But our job is to put the 23 guys that we think are available right now to play the best hockey and give us a chance to win. That’s what we’ve done.”
Vince Z. Mercogliano: Agent Milstein said that he’s going to hold off commenting for now.
Vince Z. Mercogliano: “Here’s something I don’t get: Kravtsov being demoted helped #NYR protect Hajek from waivers, w/ a slight chance they can get a late-round pick in a trade. But now they’ve pushed their relationship with a former top-10 pick to the brink, diminishing his trade value in the process.”