Who could be traded at the deadline?

The 2021 trade deadline is less than a week away and there has been speculation that the New York Rangers could be sellers if the games the rest of this week against the Penguins and Islanders don’t go well.

In reality, the list of players who would be attractive to a contender and be available is pretty small.   In a non-expansion year, players like Colin Blackwell, Kevin Rooney, Tony Bitetto and Keith Kinkaid would be trade fodder as playoff-bound teams are looking for depth.  Not this year.  The Rangers need to keep all of them to satisfy the requirements of the Seattle expansion draft.

That leaves to following candidates for a deadline deal:

Forwards

Pavel Buchnevich
Ryan Strome
Julien Gauthier
Brett Howden
Phil Di Giuseppe

Defense

Brendan Smith
Tony DeAngelo

That’s a very limited list.  There are a number of players in Hartford who could be trade bait including Jonny Brodzinski, Tim Gettinger, Darren Raddysh, Brandon Crawley and Mason Geertsen, but it’s doubtful that a contender would see any of them as an important piece of a playoff team.

It’s possible that the Rangers made their big move when they traded Brendan Lemieux to Los Angeles.  Let’s take a look at the players who are the best candidates to be moved at the deadline.