It’s that time of year for the New York Rangers. Less than three weeks to the NHL Entry Draft and the rumor mill is working overtime.
With the entry draft scheduled for Friday, June 21, there are a lot of rumors flying around. When it comes to the New York Rangers, they aren’t going away. Most of the speculation is about potential trades with the free agency window still a month away.
When it comes to rumors, it’s important to consider the origin. There are a number of reputable sources with legitimate contacts in the industry. Here are a few you should have on your radar.
TSN’s Trade Bait
One respected source of trade rumors is TSN’s Trade Bait List. On a regular basis, TSN senior writer Frank Seravalli lists the 25 players rumored to be at the top of the trade rumor mill.
The list can cause quite a stir. This week’s list included ten new names including Mitch Marner, resulting in a lot of chatter.
The only Ranger on TSN’s list is Kevin Shattenkirk at number nine. A potential Ranger target, Jacob Trouba, is on the list in the second position. For what it’s worth, the top slot is occupied by Phil Kessel who was actually dealt to the Minnesota Wild for Jason Zucker (#3), but he vetoed the deal per his contract.
One interesting name on the Trade Bait List is Artemi Panarin. The backstory there is that the Blue Jackets are rumored to be shopping Panarin for draft picks. This would be similar to the Rangers trading impeding free agent Keith Yandle to the Florida Panthers in 2016. The Panthers had first crack at signing Yandle and in exchange the Rangers picked up two draft picks (one was conditional if he signed with Florida).
One advantage for a team acquiring his rights would be the ability to sign him to an eight-year contract. Team signing a UFA from another team can only offer a seven-year contract.
At any rate, it’s worth checking out the trade bait list to see where the most noise is coming from.
TSN has one of the best stables of hockey writers and also boasts one of the most connected hockey reporters, Bob McKenzie. Keep track of McKenzie on his Twitter feed.
Pro Hockey Rumors
It is a sign of the times that there are many websites devoted to hockey rumors. Pro Hockey Rumors is one of the better ones. It’s a good place to keep track of transactions and they are very diligent about sourcing rumors.
If a player is signed or traded, this site will have a pretty complete report up very quickly.
31 Thoughts
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet does a weekly column called “31 Thoughts.” It is must-read copy for hockey insiders as Friedman often drops little nuggets that turn into big stories. He also does a weekly podcast and has a Twitter feed.
A good example of a nugget is this entry from the May 25th column regarding Kevin Hayes:
"“15. Word from the Worlds is there’s a lot of due diligence being done on Kevin Hayes. Colorado, Philadelphia and, most interestingly, Chicago among them. Hayes, you’ll remember, was drafted by the Blackhawks but chose the Rangers in free agency. Chicago saw him score a beautiful overtime winner against them after he was traded to Winnipeg.”"
He didn’t mention that Philadelphia’s new coach, Alain Vigneault, is very familiar with Hayes and that they have a need for a two-way center considering that they are intent on keeping Claude Giroux on the wing.
He breaks news quite often with his tweets so he is worth monitoring. He also links on Twitter to his podcast and his “31 Thoughts” column.
Pierre LeBrun
LeBrun has been breaking news for years for TSN. Now he is also the Hockey Insider for “The Athletic.” Since that content is behind a paywall, the best option to keep track of LeBrun is through his Twitter feed and his content on TSN.
A perfect example of the rumor mill is the story about Toronto trying to trade Patrick Marleau. LeBrun was the first to report that the Kings and Maple Leafs had talked trade.
Hearing the Leafs and Kings have talked about a potential Patrick Marleau trade. Obviously there’s the Todd McLellan connection there for Marleau so he might waive. But as of now I don’t think the two teams have found a fit. Kings would need to unload a contract or two as well...
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 31, 2019
Since that tweet first appeared there have been hundreds of tweets and stories about the potential Marleau deal, but it all began with LeBrun.
Blue Line Station
Of course, there is your best source for information about the New York Rangers, Blue Line Station. We try to keep you updated as quickly as possible, while trying to verify all rumors involving the Rangers. Pure speculation will never be published as fact without attribution and explanation.
There will be a lot of action as we get closer to the June 21 NHL Entry Draft and Blue Line Staion will be all over it!