Seattle Kraken could be answer to NYR problems

The New York Rangers have young talent struggling to make their roster. Meanwhile, the Seattle Kraken can use all the young talent they can get. Sounds like a match.

*Editor’s note: I don’t believe in just pushing half-brained trade ideas. Any proposed trade article we run, if it’s for the Seattle Kraken or any other team PNWS covers, can’t be so unrealistic that it will never happen.

The New York Rangers have some high-potential, yet disgruntled young players and a salary cap squeeze. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Seattle Kraken has room for prospect development, and quality draft picks to deal. Those are the building blocks of a good trade.

NYR’s Issue

One of the side effects of having a good team is that there isn’t much room for youth to develop at the NHL level. New York has two such players they’ve had problems finding room for, right wing Vitali Kravtsov and defenseman Nils Lundkvist. Both were first round picks in 2018.

Last season neither made an impact for New York. As a matter of fact, things got quite edgy with Kravtsov after he failed to make the team out of training camp.

NYR assigned him to their AHL affiliate in Hartford, but he refused to go. The sides were at a stalemate until an agreement was reached to loan the disgruntled wing to his former KHL team, Traktor Chelyabinsk, in early November.

He was okay in Russia, scoring 13 points in 19 games plus another 10 in 15 playoff appearances. Nothing great, but he is still only 21 years old.

Lundkvist started the season in New York, but his Broadway audition lasted until just after the New Year. In 25 games, he averaged 13.56 of ice time, with 4 points, and was a +4. Needless to say, he’s not very happy with the organization either.

Seattle Kraken

Enter the Seattle Kraken, who have room on their roster to develop young players with high upsides. Whether Kraken fans like it or not, they have to realize their team can’t go very far, with players like Yanni Gourde and Alexander Wenneberg playing prominent roles.

Because of their salary situation, NYR isn’t in a position to take back salary. Fortunately, Seattle has a plethora of draft picks in the next two years, plus a prospect or two that need developmental time, to deal.

The Trade

Seattle gets Kravtsov, Lundkvist, and Ryan Reaves from NYR in exchange for William Borgen, Winnipeg’s 2023 second round pick, Seattle’s 2024 second round pick, Toronto’s 2024 third round pick, either Jani Nyman or David Goyette (both were 2022 second round picks), and $450K (half of Borgen’s 2022 salary).

Fairness

This deal might anger some Rangers fans because they want a first round pick. By now, if there were number ones available, NYR General Manager Chris Drury would have pulled the trigger by now.

Instead, they get the equivalent of three second round picks and pick up almost $2M in cap space.

Kraken fans might not be too thrilled either, giving up draft capital the team worked so hard to acquire at last year’s trade deadline. The potential of both Kravtsov and Lundkvist is worth it. Even if only one of them works out.

In situations like this, when both sides aren’t thrilled yet address roster issues, it’s the sign of a fair deal.

Not the only move

Since the NHL runs on a salary cap, and the Kraken are adding money, current players have to go. Just because Seattle trades for Reaves doesn’t mean they have to keep him. GM Ron Francis could trade him or buy out the 35-year-old’s contract.

Even by doing that, they’d still be closer to the cap ceiling than they’d like. So, whether it’s Gourde, Wenneberg, Joonas Donskoi, Vince Dunn, or someone else, Seattle will need some cap room to make deals later on.

The good news is that they won’t have to make another move immediately should they decide not to keep Reaves. Francis can pick his spot to make a deal. It might be before the season or during it.

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