If the New York Rangers want to reunite with a former player, it should be this one
By Conor Power
As we approach the trade deadline, the New York Rangers will be trying to strengthen the roster across the board. It's Chris Drury's time to show the squad that the front office has faith in the group of players in that room to go far and make a run at the Stanley Cup. Banner number five is the foal for the team that calls Madison Square Garden home and the team's reinforcements may have already called MSG home.
Three Former New York Rangers the team could bring back. Three Former New York Rangers the team could bring back. dark. Next
There have been former Rangers linked with a return to the Garden from every corner of the league. Whether that is Tarasenko, Duclair, or Vatrano, the Rangers have apparently touched base on everyone. Though, with a report from Frank Seravalli suggesting that a new name may hit the market, the Rangers should not be targetting any of them, but a player that they drafted and gave away for almost nothing.
That is St Louis' Blues Russian forward Pavel Buchnevich. Drury traded him to the Blues for a second-round pick and Sammy Blais many years ago when the Rangers were trying to open up cap space. Now, the former second-round pick of the New York Rangers has developed into a point-per-game player under the gateway arch. He's learned how to play center and now could be quite the addition for the Rangers, who need someone that can play right-wing and center.
Buchnevich has another year on his deal at $5.8 million, and at the age of 28, there's not exactly a substantial risk of decline between now and the end of the contract. It was a mistake to move him in the first place. Correcting that mistake is going to cost the team a ton of assets, but it would put to bed some of the demons of the past and fix the teams previous errors.
If the first round pick, Gabriel Perreault, and Kaapo Kakko get this done, there should be no reason not to jump at it. This will require someone from the roster to go, and Kakko makes the most sense because the extra $2 million would combine with the money from Filip Chytil's deal being on LTIR for the remainder of the season and allow the roster to move forward without paying the extra price for retention.