We are five days away from the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, and the New York Rangers have yet to make any additions to address their roster needs. They made an early trade last season when they acquired Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues, but this year, most teams have held onto their players because they are still in the playoff hunt or they are waiting for an offer they can’t refuse.
The Rangers have some key pieces they need to add, including a first-line right-winger and a third-line center, and they should be looking at the Pacific Division to help fill those holes. Here are three potential teams the Rangers could trade with.
Anaheim Ducks
One of the most common teams to be connected to the Rangers is the Anaheim Ducks. They will be sellers again this season and have some key pieces they could move for draft picks and prospects. Rumors started to heat up last week when Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek was seen at Madison Square Garden for the Rangers game against the Columbus Blue Jackets. It seems that Verbeek was scouting for a player that might interest him. Players like Kaapo Kakko and Adam Edstrom could be of interest to the Ducks as they are young but also have NHL experience.
The names that have come up most often are Adam Henrique and Frank Vatrano. Both players would fill a need on the Rangers, and a package deal could make sense. Vatrano has the familiarity of playing in New York, and he was a good fit on a line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad during his short stint with the team in 2021-22. He would fill the void on the right wing, while Henrique would be the perfect fit at third-line center. He is a veteran and is having a good season on a bad team, with 18 goals and 42 points in 59 games.
If the Rangers want to make a deal with just one team, the Ducks should be it, and while it might cost them some good picks and prospects, it would be worth it if any of these players help bring a Stanley Cup to New York for the first time in 30 years.
San Jose Sharks
Like the Ducks, the San Jose Sharks are at the bottom of the league and have players to move as they continue their rebuild. Sharks GM Mike Grier has a connection to Rangers GM Chris Drury, as he worked as an advisor under him in New York before getting the job in San Jose. They have also made it known that no player is untouchable, and they have six pending unrestricted free agents (UFA) who could help the Rangers.
Related: Vatrano Should be Atop Rangers’ Trade Deadline List
Anthony Duclair, Luke Kunin, Nico Sturm, and Alexander Barabanov could be of interest. Duclair has a connection to the Rangers, as he was drafted by them in 2013 and played 18 games during the 2014-15 season before being traded to the Arizona Coyotes. He would be a good fit on the right wing and would bring some much-needed speed to the lineup.
Barabanov can also play on the wing, but an injury has limited him to three goals and ten points in 37 games this season. Kunin and Sturm could be center options, and both would be under team control at the end of the season – Kunin is a restricted free agent, and Sturm has one more year on his deal at $2 million. While these players might not be as impactful as other rumored names, they could cost less, and that might pique Drury’s interest.
Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken are slipping further out of the playoff race. As of this writing, they are nine points out of the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. This means they could be looking to sell off players to build for the future. Two names of interest are Jordan Eberle and Alex Wennberg, both pending UFAs. There is interest in both of them around the league, and both would fill a need on the Rangers.
Eberle would slot into the right-wing spot alongside Zibanejad and Kreider, and he is proven a playoff performer, with 19 goals and 47 points in 76 career playoff games. He had six goals and 11 points in last year’s postseason with the Kraken. Wennberg would slot into the third-line center role and could play on the penalty kill. While he would not bring much offense, he would be a solid and reliable option going into the playoffs.
Yanni Gourde is not a pending UFA but might interest the Rangers. He would be a good fit as the third-line center, and he can play the wing if needed. Like Eberle, he is a proven playoff performer and was a key part of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s back-to-back Stanley Cup victories, playing mostly as the third-line center on a line with Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman – he would be reunited with Goodrow on the Rangers. However, his salary is worth roughly $5.2 million, which would have to fit under the cap both this season and next.
Plenty of names will be made available as the trade deadline gets closer, but the Rangers should be keeping close tabs on these three teams. They all have players that would help fill their roster needs, and it might not cost as much to acquire these players as it would the bigger names on the market. The Rangers need to spend their assets wisely, and these three teams could be the perfect trade partners for them.