Free agency is rapidly approaching and the New York Rangers are expected to be right in the thick of what is a very top heavy class of stars set to hit the open market.
Armed with $20 million of cap space heading into the offseason, the New York Rangers are expected to make at least one major move as they look to spruce up their roster and really accelerate this rebuild.
They will of course land themselves a generational talent in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft on June, 21 in Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko, while Vitali Kravtsov headlines the next batch of talented young studs that are primed and ready to show their worth in the big leagues.
However, while the rebuilding process is still in its infancy, the Rangers are in dire need of elite talent on their roster that can help complement their vast array of prospects.
They need battle hardened stars who carry scars from competing in the NHL, they need pre-eminent game-changers who can carry a team on their back when it matters most and, in an ideal world, they need someone who knows what it takes to win or at the very least has experienced a deep postseason run.
One such name who ticks all of those boxes and has been linked with the Blueshirts on countless occasions is Erik Karlsson.
Reports suggesting that the 15th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft could one day end up in the Big Apple aren’t new, although they have resurfaced in the last couple of days with ESPN proposing that NYR could well be big players when it comes to the Karlsson sweepstakes this offseason.
Also adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist, currently representing Sweden at the IIHF World Championships, recently told Swedish media that he wants his fellow countryman to join him in the Big Apple.
The 28-year-old is set to test the waters of free agency this summer along with a host of other big names in the ilk of Artemi Panarin, Matt Duchene and Jeff Skinner.
For now, Karlsson will be licking his wounds after he and his San Jose Sharks team were denied a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals and a date with destiny against the Boston Bruins after losing in six games in the Western Conference to the St. Louis Blues.
Whether or not Karlsson opts to remain where he is and sign a bumper deal with the Sharks is as yet unclear, but if he does indeed hit the open market then there will be a plethora of suitors lining up for his signature.