When the New York Rangers sent Vitali Kravtsov to Hartford yesterday, the assumption was that he would be going just for a few days and it was because Chris Drury was trying to figure out what to do with his waivers-eligible players destined to go to the Wolf Pack. Boy, were we wrong. Kravtsov has refused to report and is likely facing a suspension. It looks like his days as a Ranger are over.
This is a mess and we’ve been down this road before. The ninth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Kravtsov was sent to Hartford in his first season in North America (2019-20) only to quit the team after a dispute with the Wolf Pack’s coaching staff. He ended up going home to Russia and was allowed to play that season in the KHL. He did return to Hartford after the KHL season had ended and all seemed well.
He then played the entire KHL season last year with Traktor and made his debut with the Blueshirts late last season, playing 20 games while scoring two goals and four points. He didn’t make the final roster in training camp and he and Morgan Barron were sent to Hartford as the only two players that didn’t have to clear waivers.
Now, it looks like he could be going elsewhere with Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reporting that he has been given permission to seek a trade to another team.
What is really going on is a mystery. While it appeared that Kravtsov didn’t make the team partially because he missed a chunk of training camp and the exhibition games with an injury, the thinking was that it was completely waiver-related.
If that is the story, then why didn’t Chris Drury and Gerard Gallant sit the kid down and tell him that he was going to be in Hartford for a week and would soon be back with the Rangers. Then again, they might have done exactly that and he responded by refusing to go.
Or very possibly, the new regime of Drury and Gallant felt that Kravtsov doesn’t have what it takes to make it in the NHL and they felt that he truly wasn’t good enough to play for the Rangers. That’s what the reports are from Rangers’ practice.
Just spoke to Gallant, who made it sound like Kravtsov being sent down was more about other guys beating him out for spots. He mentioned Hunt and Gauthier specifically. #NYR
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) October 12, 2021
If that’s the case, the Rangers are completely at odds with their young player and the only resolution will be a trade, unless they want to let him go back to Russia yet again.
Don’t forget, when Kravtsov is in the NHL he is making over $1 million a year. His salary in Hartford is $70,000. That might matter to him, a lot.
No matter what, this is another black eye for the Jeff Gorton administration, following the Lias Andersson fiasco. In two years, Gorton had the seventh overall pick in 2017 and the ninth overall pick in 2018 and now, it looks like they have struck out on two consecutive top ten picks. That’s not very good and it’s the way that Andersson and Kravtsov have gotten here that is a bigger issue.
Now, the disturbing issue is that by getting into this situation, they have diminished Kravtsov’s trade value. Whereas he had been mentioned as a centerpiece in an Eichel trade, now, he will be worth a mid-level draft pick at best.
It’s a mess and there will be more to discuss as the situation moves forward.