Sportsnet: Vince Mercogliano on the Jeff Marek Show on who the New York Rangers could target after Tommy Novak signed a contract extension with the Nashville Predators.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Marek: “You know, one of the things that that I wrote about this on the weekend and Elliotte just mentioned that (Tommy) Novak is, you know, signing the extension with the Nashville Predators, three years, $10.5 million.
I don’t know if it was the number one target for Chris Drury, but very much was a target for the New York Rangers. Where do you think the Rangers you know, pivot now that you know that Tommy Novak is no longer in their plans for trade deadline?
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Mercogliano: “Yeah, Jeff, well Novak I think was definitely on their radar. I know they’ve spent some time scouting him and you look at the cap hit and the ability to fill that third-line center void …”
Marek: “Yeah,”
Mercogliano: “… we know that they have. He would have been really appealing for them. The question was, would the Predators sell? With the streak they’ve been on recently, I think we kind of realized that that was less likely. And now they definitely have to pivot.
Now. I’ll preface by saying this, (Rangers GM) Chris Drury keeps a very tight lid on his plans. He’s one of those old-school guys that has cut out a lot of the leaks. And so saying this guy for sure, or that guy is his number one target, is difficult at this point.
But from the conversations that I’ve had and just connecting my own dots, my gaze is still pointing out West. I think a team like Anaheim. we know Pat Verbeek, their general manager was at Madison Square Garden last week. We don’t know exactly who he was there to see but I’m sure there was a conversation with Chris Drury. And I think there are a couple guys on that roster. Adam Henrique (traded to Edmonton today), Frank Vatrano, who are very much on the Rangers radar. So Anaheim is a team that I’m looking at.
I also think if the Rangers can’t get a deal done for maybe one of those relatively bigger names, that San Jose at the bottom six types, who the Rangers might be interested in. We know there’s a connection there with (Sharks GM) Mike Grier, who went to BU with Chris Drury. Worked under Chris Drury for a year before getting hired by San Jose. So that’s the team I think that under-the-radar the Rangers have been keeping tabs on.
And then a team that I think they’d be very interested in making a deal with if they decide that certain guys are available, is the Seattle Kraken. I think whether you’re talking about Alex Wennberg, even if Yanni Gourde would be available. Jordan Eberle, even Tomas Tatar. There’s quite a few forwards on that roster that I think would maybe fill a need for the Rangers, it’s just a matter of is, Seattle going to sell off some of those pieces.
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But, so I’m looking out West quite a bit. There’s definitely you know, a chance for a surprise here. I think that that’s where my focus has been in the past few days.