New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender this season and currently sit third in the Eastern Conference, behind only the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins.

They are also in need of right-wing help, a position the team must upgrade to see their dreams and aspirations become a reality.

The team knows this and has expressed "serious interest" in trading for Pittsburgh's Jake Guentzel, Vincent Mercogliano of the Westchester Journal News reported.

The only problem? An astronomical asking price from the Penguins, who are seeking "a first-round pick and multiple young assets." The Pens are seeking quality over quantity, but have made it clear in their dealings that they are looking to get younger amid ranking as the oldest team in the NHL this season with an average age of 30.8.

The Rangers should help them do so, especially considering what Guentzel brings to the table.

The winger can play on the right side and before an injury that landed him on the long-term injured reserve, had tallied 52 (22 goals, 30 assists) points in 50 games. Guentzel reportedly suffered a fractured finger, per Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, and is eligible to return two days after the March 8 trade deadline.

Assuming he is healthy and there are no long-term effects of the injury, Guentzel would likely pay immediate dividends for a team that currently ranks 10th in scoring with 3.31 goals per game.

The haul to get Guentzel will not be easy to stomach, with the Rangers likely having to give up a rostered player or prospect, and a first-round draft pick. On the heels of a trade for Seattle defenseman Alex Wennberg, the team still has "first-round picks this year and next, plus a decent crop of mid-level prospects," according to Arthur Staple of The Athletic.

The question will be whether the team can make the deal from a financial standpoint.

Staple wrote that the team benefited from Seattle retaining some of Wennberg's salary, and conceivably has north of $3 million in space. Guentzel's current cap hit is for double that, meaning the team would likely have to include players in the deal to free up space or find a third partner to help facilitate the deal.

Is it a headache from that standpoint? Absolutely, but the Rangers have an opportunity to compete for a championship that they have not hoisted in 30 years.

Not making every move they possibly can to capitalize on momentum and their place near the top of the conference by bringing in a player that will not only enhance their offensive output but can force turnovers and hunt down pucks.

Guentzel is a potential difference-maker, the sort of player the most serious teams bring in to help increase the odds of a championship push.

And he should absolutely be a Ranger by the deadline Friday or the team will have missed out on an opportunity to make a statement to the rest of the NHL.

New York Rangers

The New York Rangers have their best chance to win a Stanley Cup since the 2014-15 season in which they fell to Tampa Bay in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. Their most glaring obstacle was the injury of center Filip Chytil. The young Czech ensured the Rangers were throwing out a top center in either him, Mika Zibanejad or Vincent Trocheck most shifts.

The Rangers remain first in the Metropolitan Division, but the rest of the team has had to do heavy lifting to compensate for some major problems in the bottom six.

Alex Wennberg is the attempt to finally plug the hole, and it's a good attempt. The Swedish center has had many ups and downs in his career but has finally settled in as a high-end third-line center. In three seasons in Seattle, he has found homeostasis as a 35-40 point producer largely through playmaking.

One reason Wennberg in particular is a fit for the Rangers is that most of his offense has come at five-on-five. If he sees any power-play time at all, it will be on the second unit and he won't touch the puck much. The Rangers' bottom-six centers this season—Nick Bonino, Jonny Brodzinski and Barclay Goodrow—combined for 28 total points. Wennberg alone has 25. He can produce in a third-line role.

The Rangers need a third-line center who can drive possession. The lack of offense from the bottom six has been a symptom of a larger problem, which is spending too much time stuck in their own end.

Wennberg stayed afloat in difficult minutes in Seattle. He started 38.1 percent of his five-on-five shifts in the defensive zone, which ranked first among all Kraken forwards. Head coach Dave Hakstol usually matched him against the opposition's top line as well.

This isn't a flashy addition by the Rangers and he is not going to be as good as Chytil. Nonetheless, Wennberg is definitionally a third-line center and will stabilize a problem that has bothered the team for months. He'll take some heat off Trocheck and Zibanejad, and his playmaking prowess will hopefully pair well with third-line winger Will Cuylle, who loves to crash the net and put home loose pucks.

The center market that was weak to start with became limited when Elias Lindholm and Sean Monahan were traded a month ago and then became barebones once Nashville extended Tommy Novak and Edmonton acquired Adam Henrique.

A late-second-round pick and a fourth-round pick are probably not what anyone would have expected to pay for Wennberg in October, but one has to assess the trade within the circumstances of the environment. The Rangers filled the center need at a $2.25M cap hit without moving a first-round pick or any of their B-level prospects such as Brett Berard, Adam Edström or Adam Sýkora. They did not significantly cut into the future, and general manager Chris Drury still has enough financial room and resource power to add a winger.

Seattle Kraken

The Kraken made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last season, advancing to Round 2. Instead of building off that, they regressed and are all but out of the playoff picture. Wennberg is 29 and an unrestricted free agent in the summer. Truthfully, with Yanni Gourde and the young Matty Beniers at center, the Kraken may be wise to find a true top-line center for next season. Wennberg certainly would not be that.

Monahan and Henrique were moved for first-round picks with a sweetener. Though a similar deal may have not been in the cards for the Kraken, it is a little bit surprising that they could not milk a better second asset than a fourth-round pick. Only GM Ron Francis knew what offers he had on the table, and Colorado's acquisition of Casey Mittelstadt took out at least one of the Rangers' theoretical competitors for Wennberg. It's good value for a third-line center.

Seattle had three second-round picks during the 2023 NHL draft and four second-round selections in 2022. It's good to get some more draft picks in the arsenal, but it may be time to think about moving assets over the summer for immediate difference-makers.

The New York Rangers added some forward depth ahead of their playoff push.

New York announced it acquired Alex Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday ahead of Friday's trade deadline. The Rangers sent a 2024 second-round draft pick and a conditional 2025 fourth-round draft pick to Seattle in return.

Darren Dreger of TSN added more details:

Wennberg has appeared in 60 games this season, posting 25 points on 16 assists and nine goals.

He previously played for the Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers before joining the Kraken ahead of the 2021-22 campaign. This is his 10th season in the league, and he has reached the 20-point mark every year.

His best individual season came in 2016-17 for the Blue Jackets when he finished with 59 points on 46 assists and 13 goals. He also posted a plus/minus total of plus-22 in 2017-18 for Columbus.

Rangers star Artemi Panarin was on that 2017-18 Blue Jackets team, so there should be some familiarity in place for Wennberg as he heads to his new home.

New York is in first place in the Metropolitan Division with 84 points and a 40-18-4 record, which is six points clear of the Carolina Hurricanes. However, it is struggling of late and lost three of its last four games.

Perhaps Wennberg can provide a boost as the Rangers look to turn things around and hold off the Hurricanes in the division as they prepare for a potentially deep playoff run.

Sitting atop the Metropolitan Division standings, the New York Rangers are exploring potentially significant additions before Friday's trade deadline.

Per Vincent Z. Mercogliano of the Westchester Journal News, the Rangers have expressed "serious interest" in Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jake Guentzel.

Frank Vatrano of the Anaheim Ducks is also a player the Rangers have high on their wish list, but Mercogliano noted the price for him and Guentzel is extremely lofty.

The Penguins are believed to be seeking a first-round draft pick and "multiple young assets" for Guentzel as general manager Kyle Dubas attempts the difficult task of helping the team stay relevant during Sidney Crosby's twilight while also keeping an eye toward the future.

That price could be an issue for Rangers general manager Chris Drury, who "strongly prefers" not to give up any players currently on the NHL team or top prospects Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault.

There is an expectation that Guentzel is going to be traded, with an agreement possibly in place by Wednesday night.

Per TSN's Darren Dreger, the Penguins hope to have a deal for the 29-year-old in place and are open to a quantity-over-quality return.

Guentzel is in the final season of a five-year, $30 million contract and carries an average annual value of $6 million and a 12-team no-trade clause, per CapFriendly. He remains out with what is speculated to be a fractured finger, per Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, but is expected to return soon after the trade deadline.

In 50 games this season, the left winger has posted 22 goals and 30 assists, giving him an average of just over a point per game.

It's no surprise that the New York Rangers are a presence in trade discussions. The team is atop the Metropolitan Division and could be primed for a run at the Stanley Cup. But amid the usual discussion of trading prospects and draft picks, the name of fifth-year winger Kaapo Kakko is a surprising emergence.

"I know that multiple sources have said that [general manager Chris] Drury is taking calls on Kakko," TSN's Darren Dreger reported in late January. "Now, losing Filip Chytil for the remainder of the season is a big blow for the Rangers, but New York has cap space and potentially the assets, like Kakko, to acquire a significant piece."

Let's get this out of the way. Kakko was drafted second overall by the Rangers in 2019 and has not lived up to expectations. He likely never will. A million conversations can be had about how the No. 1 pick from that year, Jack Hughes, has blown him away, what has gone wrong in his development, how far he'd fall in a 2019 redraft, and how a player who was once the top prize of an infamous rebuild is now a potential trade chip at age 23.

Moving past that, Kakko is still an impactful player. His 18 goals and 22 assists in 82 games last season was solid production from a 22-year-old. Consider that he averaged third-line minutes and received little power-play time. His 33 even-strength points tied him for 110th among all forwards last season. By the numbers, that is high-end second-line output.

The numbers this season—five goals and three assists in 25 games—don't look as great and reflect poor luck early in the season and a severe leg injury that put him on the shelf.

What remains consistent is his ability to drive play. The Rangers have a 54.1 percent expected goal share at five-on-five with Kakko on the ice this season, ranking second among all Blueshirt forwards. While that doesn't show in Kakko's point totals, the impact on the Rangers is obvious: They're outscoring other teams 12-9 this season when playing five-on-five.

Most Rangers fans would confirm that the "eye test" backs these results. It seems that whatever line Kakko is on has momentum. Early in the season, when Kakko was on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, the group generated a ton of offense, but couldn't get a bounce.

Since Kakko moved off the line and Blake Wheeler moved into his spot, the play of the other two has plummeted. Zibanejad has only two five-on-five goals in his last 25 games.

Meanwhile, the Rangers' bottom six has gone from the team's biggest problem to a strength. Now with Will Cuylle and Jonny Brodzinski on a checking third line, the trio has outscored the opposition 4-2 and has 60 percent of the expected goal share. Head coach Peter Laviolette called out their success on Monday.

Why is Drury reportedly dangling Kakko? The upcoming offseason probably has something to do with it. Kakko will be a restricted free agent in July and is due for a raise from his $2.1 million cap hit. He'll be joined by Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider in that regard. The projected $4.2 million salary-cap increase for 2024-25 does not come close to covering those three.

The Rangers' top prospects are Gabe Perreault and Brennan Othmann, who could soon be top-six NHL wingers. Cuylle has shined on the third line, while winger Brett Berard has been one of the team's best players in the AHL.

If the Rangers want to make a big addition at right wing, the money has to come from somewhere. With reinforcements coming up the pipeline, Kakko may end up being a cap casualty.

If the team may have to part with Kakko over the summer, it makes sense to at least put him out there and see who bites. If he can be the piece that gets the Rangers a major upgrade for this season, then they might as well expedite his departure.

The problem here is two-fold. First, it's not going to be easy to replace Kakko because he pulls a lot of rope for New York. He is one of the team's best defensive forwards. He is fantastic at protecting the puck and tiring out the opposition along the walls. He is one of the team's top producers of cycle offense.

Second, what realistic trade target fits the bill? Few players would be worth Kakko as a rental, and certainly not Adam Henrique nor Vladimir Tarasenko. To make trading Kakko worthwhile, the Rangers would need to acquire a player who is both a clear upgrade and has term on his contract.

Can Drury convince the Buffalo Sabres to part with Alex Tuch? Would the Flyers entertain offers for Travis Konecny? Those would be the type of moves in which the Rangers would absolutely have to put Kakko on the table. Those seem like long shots. The trade market is always full of secrets, but there are no clear candidates of that ilk.

Put aside all preconceptions of Kakko as a former top prospect. What you have is a 6'2", 206-pound winger who plays a heavy game, defends at a high level and chips in secondary offense at even strength. To acquire that type of player as a rental, you would need a second- or third-round pick. He represents those things but as a 23-year-old under team control through 2026.

There are legitimate questions to ask about Kakko's long-term future in New York, and that, in theory, makes him an expendable asset. If the Rangers want to upgrade at right wing, they'll rent a Tarasenko or Anthony Duclair at a reasonable cost. Until and unless the market offers up a player who represents a meaningful upgrade, it makes the most sense for the Rangers to punt any decisions on the right winger until the summer.

Advanced statistics obtained from Natural Stat Trick. Salary-Cap info via CapFriendly.