Developing story: Rangers and Habs currently in trade talks
Reputable New York Post columnist Larry Brooks recently mentioned that former 28th overall pick Nils Lundkvist has reportedly informed the team that he will not report to training camp later this month and would like a fresh start with a new NHL team.
That's all it took for the CH to be linked to this deal, especially when you consider that Jeff Gorton and Nick Bobrov were directly linked to his selection in the 2018 draft. Deal proposals immediately circulated on the web, including this one:
This Saturday, freelance journalist and producer of the Puck And Roll podcast, Patrick Lortie, added an interesting tidbit to the story. According to his sources, the Rangers and CH have been in discussions for weeks. Kent Hughes and his group would like to get their hands on not only Nils Lundkvist, but also Vitaly Kravstov.
We remember that the two players have long been linked to the CH, especially last winter when Kent Hughes was negotiating to trade Ben Chiarot.
Lundkvist, who is a 1st round pick (28th overall) in 2018, had just one goal and four points in 25 games with the Rangers last season, but had three goals and 15 points in 34 games with the AHL's club-school Hartford Wolf Pack. He is stuck behind more established defensemen like Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, K'Andre Miller, Braden Schneider and Ryan Lindgren and has not been able to gain the trust of head coach Gerard Gallant.
For his part, Kravstov, who was drafted 9th overall in the 2018 draft (same as Lundkvist) by Jeff Gorton and the Rangers, signed a one-season contract extension this summer valued at $875,000. The latter did not play in the NHL last year, but played 19 games in the KHL with the Chelyabinsk Traktor. During that time, he accumulated 6 goals and 7 assists for a total of 13 points.
| POLL | ||
Would you like the CH to acquire Lundkvist and Kravtsov? | ||
| Yes | 202 | 53.7 % |
| No | 72 | 19.1 % |
| Just Lundkvist | 60 | 16 % |
| Just Kravtsov | 42 | 11.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
