Nils Lundkvist, one of the Rangers most talented young assets, is the latest to join the frustrated prospects category, becoming the sixth player to request a trade from the organization in recent memory. (Andersson, Lemieux, Kravtsov, Georgiev, Gauthier) Per Larry Brooks of the NY Post, the Rangers are “engaged in an accelerated effort” to trade their former first round draft pick after reports of his refusal to show up to camp this year have surfaced. The 22 year old Swedish defender has been highly coveted by the Rangers organization since his draft year, but with newly named Captain Jacob Trouba and former Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, securing themselves in the Rangers top-4 for the foreseeable future, as well as Braden Schneider leap-frogging Nils in the depth charts, it’s understandable that he’s a bit distraught.
Lundkvist is just one full season out from being named the SHL’s best defenseman. Quite the honor for the 5-foot-10, barely-190-pound defender in a league full of grown men. He did make the Rangers out of camp to start the season last year, even netting his first career goal in the process. However, after 25 games, the Rangers felt some time to develop in Hartford was in his best interest where he would remain for the rest of the season. Granted, he dealt with some injuries throughout the year and making the move to North America from Europe (in the tail end of a global pandemic nonetheless) is never an easy transition. It has, however, become quite evident that his growth and development within the organization have hit a wall.
While the Rangers are beginning to grow a bit of a questionable reputation when it comes to drafting, developing and retaining young talent, Nils’ situation does differ from previous cases of frustration such as his fellow countryman’s case in Lias Andersson. While the trade request seems to be legit and apparently came around the time the Rangers sent him down last season, there doesn’t seem to be any hard feelings with management or the organization. What it all boils down to is the log jam of talent the Rangers have on the right side of the back end and the fact that the player would not be in a good position for him to thrive under. One interesting note however, is the fact that Nils’ agent is none other than Claude Lemieux, who is also the agent (and father) of former Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux, who requested a trade from the organization just a few seasons ago.
With all this in mind, where do we go from here if the two parties are essentially in a stand-off with the start of camp just over a month away? Given the circumstances and the time-frame that’s at play, the Rangers have a lot to consider and not a lot of wiggle room. We all know since the Trocheck signing that room in the budget for the Rangers is rather nonexistent. No matter how you piece together the Rangers opening night roster, they barely have 900k to spare which makes trading Nils right now all the more challenging. Given where the Rangers are in terms of contending, it would make sense to trade him for a player that’s going to have an immediate impact with the team, but the paper thin budget makes it an unlikely possibility.
This has me questioning how “accelerated” these efforts to trade Nils really are. If they likely aren’t going to be able to land a player who can immediately help them out at the NHL level, what kind of return could they possibly be looking at? While Nils was a first round draft pick, he has yet to establish himself at the NHL level. Combine that with the fact that he was a very late first round pick and you begin to realize the Rangers would be pretty lucky to get a second rounder in return for him, let alone a first. Granted the Rangers might not have much of a choice right now, you have to ask is it really worth selling a player with potential promise for nickels, maybe even pennies on the dollar? Let’s look at Lias Andersson for example, who was a SEVENTH overall draft pick. The Rangers were only able to get a late second in exchange for him. Why rush a move if that’s the kind of deal we’re looking at?
Now there could be some other options at play as they don’t have to be forced to sell Nils for whatever picks they’re able to get. They could look to trade him for another disgruntled prospect with upside currently on another team, but finding a perfect match could be a challenge. They could also look to use this as an opportunity to shed some salary or perhaps make an even bigger move in a package deal. Only problem with that is, the Rangers don’t have many contracts worth shedding that they would be able to move on from. There are only a handful of rostered players who make over a million dollars that don’t have trade restrictions. (Ryan Lindgren, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Ryan Reaves, Sammy Blais) Three of those players are fresh on contract extension and the other two are rather young, important pieces. While many fans would like to see Ryan Reaves and his $1.75 million cap hit move to another team, it’s just not going to happen. While every penny counts at this point, it’s not a cap hit large enough for the Rangers to go through hoops over and frankly, what he brings to this team (when used properly) is more valuable than fans realize.
In an extreme scenario, the Rangers could look to package Lundkvist with Filip Chytil if they find the right opportunity. Again with the Trocheck signing, Chytil is pretty much stuck in the third line center role and with one year left in his contract, his future in New York is quietly becoming a question mark. Chances are, they would only be able to pull a move like that off at the deadline as salary retention would probably come into play which again has me questioning why a trade would be imminent. It’s also worth noting that for the longest time, people thought a Viltali Kravtsov trade was as imminent as it gets and all of a sudden, that situation seems to be fully resolved as he prepares to compete for a third line spot this season. That’s not to suggest Lundkvist is going to have a change of heart and somehow find his way with this Rangers team, I just wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for a move to take place.
As far as I can tell, if the Rangers don’t move him before the start of the season, it really isn’t going to affect all that much. Obviously if he refuses to report to the Rangers, he’s not going to go play in Hartford so as long as he is given permission, I don’t see why he can’t go back to play in Sweden. He still has two years left on his contract so the Rangers can look to move him at any point either at the trade deadline or next off-season. If it’s safe to assume that the case, why wouldn’t the Rangers hold off until closer to the trade deadline when they will likely have more flexibility to bring in a player that can help them contend? It’ll be interesting to see how this situation plays out, stay tuned for some potential names the Rangers should target in Lundkvist trade talks in another post sometime next week. Hockey is right around the corner Rangers fans, hang in there!
Chris Feldman
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