The New York Rangers have been one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference the past few seasons with two trips in the past three seasons to the Conference Finals. However, this season has been nothing short of a disaster as they have lost six of their last seven games.
It seems that general manager Chris Drury will not wait any longer and is ready to make some changes. One of those moves appears to be around their captain Jacob Trouba, who will be kept out of Friday night's game against the Penguins if he is still on the roster.
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Rangers have options in trading Trouba but he is able to block a potential move due to a partial no-trade clause. If that does happen, the Rangers are prepared to just waive him as it appears they are determined to move on.
Could the New York Rangers add a bigger star before the Los Angeles Kings play them?
The reason this is relevant to the Los Angeles Kings is that they are set to play the Rangers next week in the third game of their seven-game road trip. It seems like not playing Trouba is a certainty but moving on from their captain may be part of a bigger move.
On Friday morning, The NY Post's Larry Brooks reported that Brady Tkachuk was the target of the New York Rangers in a secondary move after releasing Trouba. However, that has since been refuted on multiple occasions, including by TSN's Darren Dreger.
CBJ, Det and Anaheim among the crop of teams circling around Trouba and the NYR. Complicated. Nothing going on between the Rangers and Ottawa Senators. Zilch.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) December 6, 2024
Even if Tkachuk is not the target for the New York Rangers, it seems like they can't just get rid of a player and hope the season turns around. There would have to be an addition that would make the roster better so it wouldn't be surprising if by the time the Los Angeles Kings take the ice against the New York Rangers in Madison Square Garden that there is some players on that team that currently are not apart of the franchise.