RNYRF's RANGERS RUMORS ROUND UP 6/22

RANGERS RUMORS ROUND UP:

Speculation is the Rangers are looking to "reset" and not rebuild. GM Jeff Gorton is completely intertwined in making deals come this weekend or as some have said, he's "juggling about a 1/2 dozen balls in the air" looking to find the right pieces via trades. While the Rangers need to make salary cap room you may see popular names like Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider and possibly Kevin Klein moved instead of Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. The Rangers right now feel as though they still have an open window for a Stanley Cup run with Henrik Lundqvist in net and do not have a need to "rebuild" as some thought they might do but rather need to "freshen" up the locker room and find some "new blood" to inject some speed and fire into the rest of the team core.

More and more every day there are teams linked to Rick Nash with only one trade being speculated. A few sources have Nash heading to Anaheim for Cam Fowler who had a poor season last year for the Ducks. That rumor seems to be only speculation and has no validity according to those close to the Rangers situation. The teams said to have contacted the Rangers regarding Nash were, Nashville, Buffalo, Detroit, Montreal and San Jose along with Anaheim. Whether Nash is moved by this weekend or by July 1st it seems as though his days in a Broadway Blueshirt are numbered.

As far as Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider go, Stepan has been said to be garnering interest from around the league with only Minnesota being a specific team being linked. With Chris Kreider as a pending RFA with arbitration rights many speculate the Rangers may look to move the "spotty" Winger in favor of a pay raise due to his numbers during the final 1/2 of the 2015-2016 season.

With Steven Stamkos looking for a big payday it seems as though the Rangers will be out of the running unless Stamkos is willing to take a huge pay cut instead of the 11M per season long term deal he is said to be looking for.

Another name linked to the Rangers has been Kevin Shattenkirk. It seems very unlikely the Rangers will be able to pull off a deal for St Louis' Defenseman since the Blues just turned down a speculated trade with Boston for the 14th overall pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft. Shattenkirk is also said to be seeking a 6 year 42M contract heading into Free Agency at the end of the coming season and the Rangers would not be interested in making that type of offer with Girardi's and Staal's highly priced contracts with NMC's.