New York Rangers news, rumors and notes; May 22nd, 2017

All the latest news, rumors and notes about the New York Rangers from across the web, all in one place!

It’s officially the dog days of May, where we wait around until the Stanley Cup Playoffs are over before the New York Rangers can begin to prepare their roster for the 2017-2018 season.
This past season could very well have been the last for the team’s core. CBS New York’s Sean Hartnett wrote about it. Hartnett wrote about how Derek Stepan could be the first casualty of the core going forward.
Regardless of his contract status, Stepan will only be 27 at the start of this upcoming season. He is one of the best defensive centers in the league, has 97 playoff games under his belt and is 50 points in the bank every year.
If the Rangers must trade a center–something I think they should avoid doing–I think it could be in their best interest to move Kevin Hayes. I wrote about it last week, so before you criticize me for that statement, give this a read.

With that said, here is Blue Line Stations’ off-season bold predictions list. With a lot of potential moves on the horizon, it’s very interesting to see the varying opinions and predictions from a big number of people, especially when they all write for one site.
Here’s a bold prediction for ya; Mika Zibanejad is going to be a hell of a hockey player.
While Zibanejad and the team both know that he needs to find some more consistency going forward, his playoff performance was promising. The 24-year-old led the team with nine points in 12 games this past postseason. Blueshirt Banter examined what his future contract that he will agree to this summer will look like.

As has been the case in the last few off-seasons, many are speculating whether or not Dan Girardi or Marc Staal will be bought out. There are some misconceptions out there about what the buyout will look like financially, though. Both Blue Seats Blogs, as well as myself, have looked into this and will tell you that it wouldn’t be as bad as one might think.
While it almost seems like one of the two being bought out is a matter of when, not if, there is a bigger rumor circulating around the Rangers pertaining to a former NHL star.
It has been rumored that former New Jersey Devil Ilya Kovalchuk want to come back to the NHL next season. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet added to the speculation by admitting that there is mutual interest between the two parties in terms of a potential deal.
I don’t know how much of a fit Kovalchuk would be here, but it sure would be funny if he spurned the Devils again by moving across the Hudson. It is worth noting that the only way the Rangers could acquire him would be via a sign-and-trade, so assets would have to go back to the Devils in this one.

Lastly, Henrik Lundqvist and his brother Joel sit on top of the hockey world as of yesterday afternoon when Team Sweden defeated team Canada at the IIHF Worlds. Good for the King. Although it’s not the trophy I care about him winning, hopefully, this will motivate him to be even better next season. Knowning him, it definitely will.