Rangers Free Agency: 5 awful destinations for Henrik Lundqvist

When the New York Rangers bought out Henrik Lundqvist he became free to sign with any team

We all know that Henrik Lundqvist wants to play hockey in 2020-21.  The key question is where he will end up.  The rumors are hot and heavy that the former New York Rangers All-Star is bound for Washington.  More on that later.

Lundqvist has made it known that he wants to play using social media to get that message out.

He has also eliminated all references to the Rangers on his personal Twitter account and his Foundation account as well.  There’s no doubt that the King is in play.

For Ranger fans, here are the absolutely five worst places he could end up.

#5 – Boston Bruins

Henrik Lundqvist in a Bruins uniform would be as loathsome as Brian Leetch in a B’s jersey. That happened in 2005-06 and fans with long memories wince when they recollect that image.  Fans with even longer memories will remember the Bruins beating up the Rangers of the early 1970s as well.

New York and Boston are huge rivals and the Big Apple has taken its lumps recently.  The last thing we would want to see is Lundqvist in Boston.  That said, the Bruins don’t appear to be in the market for a goalie unless they decide to unload Tuuka Rask and would be looking for veteran help to back up Jaroslav Halak.

#4 – Philadelphia Flyers

New York Ranger fans hate the Broad Street Bullies.  Add Lundqvist to Alain Vigneault and Kevin Hayes and it could be unbearable.   The good news is the Flyers are committed to Carter Hart and just signed backup Brian Elliott to a one year deal so they have no need for a netminder.

The other good news is the Flyers lived up to their reputation and folded like a tent in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

#3 – Pittsburgh Penguins

Henrik Lundqvist standing shoulder to shoulder with Sid the Kid during the national anthem is pretty nauseating.  Considering that the Rangers and Penguins will see each other a lot next season, that’s an image we could see quite often.  The Pens have committed to Tristan Jarry with Casey DeSmith as their backup so it looks unlikely, but you never know.

#2 – Washington Capitals

Ugh.  The Capitals are the hottest rumored destination for the King.  It appears that they are not going to re-sign UFA Braden Holtby and are committed to Russian netminder Ilya Samsonov.  Samsonov has 26 NHL games under his belt and current backup Pheonix Copley doesn’t scare anyone though he did post a 2.90 Goals Against Average and a .905 Save Percentage last season.

There’s no one in the Washington prospect pipeline and the Caps my believe that Lundqvist could be  tutor and mentor for Samsonov and be available to take over if needed.  Hey, the King knows a lot about mentoring young Russian goaltenders.

How bad would that be?  The Caps are poised to make another Stanley Cup run and that would be nice for Lundqvist, but the idea of getting beat by Ovechkin and Lundqvist is pretty unbearable.

#1 –  New York Islanders

The idea of Henrik Lundqvist playing for the hated Islanders is the worst possible scenario.  It must be tempting for him to imagine playing behind one of the best defensive teams in the NHL after years of the blueline sieve he has been forced to put up with at the Garden.   He’d love to prove that he still has the skill to be an elite NHL goaltender if he has a decent defense in front of him.

With only $9 million in cap space, the Islanders are rumored to be shopping Semyon Varlamov.  They just signed Russian star Ilya Sorokin and Thomas Greiss is a UFA.   Could they look to Lundqvist as a mentor to Sorokin and a goalie who could steer them to a deeper playoff run?  Crazier things have happened.

Some other options

You may be surprised that the New Jersey Devils are not on this list, but with Lundqvist’s desire to win a Stanley Cup, the idea that he would consider signing with a rebuilding team like the Devils is a non-starter.  It would actually be painful to watch the offensively gifted Rangers take on the King and a bad Devils team.  He could stand on his head and still not be good enough.

There’s no doubt that an Eastern Conference team would be his preference and the least attractive option for Ranger fans.   Still, the Atlantic Division destination is preferable to a Metropolitan Division with the Western Conference the best option for Ranger fans.

One other factor is that it is very possible is that due to pandemic concerns, the NHL will go to an unbalanced schedule with teams playing most of their games against nearby teams (as MLB did).  In that case, the Rangers could end up playing many games against the Islanders, Devils, Flyers, Capitals and Bruins.

Preferred destinations (for Ranger fans)

There are a few Lundqvist destinations that Ranger fans would find much easier to live with.  With the unbalanced schedule, if he is with a Western Conference team, he may not even get a chance at a return to the Garden in another uniform.

Ranger fans would love to see a  reunion with Mats Zuccarello in Minnesota.  Pairing the greatest Swedish goaltender with Erik Karlsson, one of the greatest Swedish defensemen would be fun to watch.

It’s doubtful that Lundqvist would want to play in the wilds of Alberta, Canada, but it would be nice to see the King playing with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, two of the best players on the planet.

The Kings are rebuilding, but the idea of Lebron James and Henrik Lundqvist sharing the Staples Center spotlight could be awesome.

There is a lot of chatter about Lundqvist’s future with most of it centered on the Capitals. New coach Peter Laviolette has no direct history with Lundqvist, but he is an old school NHL coach and he has a long history of being on the opposite side so he may be a Lundqvist fan.  We shall see.