The Rangers are engaged in an accelerated effort to commerce Nils Lundkvist after being notified the 22-year-old Swedish defenseman is unlikely to report back to camp within the absence of a deal, The Publish has been advised by a number of sources.
Lundkvist, the third of the membership’s first-round alternatives within the 2018 draft at twenty eighth total, turned in a lukewarm efficiency for the Blueshirts in his first North American season earlier than being despatched to the AHL Wolf Pack in mid-January after being leapfrogged by 20-year-old Braden Schneider on the proper protection depth chart.
The Publish has discovered that normal supervisor Chris Drury has been working with Lundkvist’s agent, Claude Lemieux, to be able to impact a commerce to a company through which the Swede would have a greater alternative to problem for a top-four spot and function as a power-play quarterback.
On the identical time, although, the Blueshirts are looking for a semblance of equal worth in return for Lundkvist, the slick, puck-moving, offense-oriented defenseman who's generously listed at 5-foot-10, 187 kilos.
What that is perhaps, nonetheless, is anyone’s guess following a season through which Lundkvist had a tough time adapting to the smaller NHL rinks and the elevated velocity and tempo of the sport in comparison with Europe. Lundkvist recorded 4 factors (1-3) in 25 video games for the Rangers, averaging 13:56 of ice per (1:13 on the facility play’s second unit), earlier than going 3-12-15 in 35 video games for Hartford.
Lundkvist had been named the winner of the 2020-21 Borje Salming Trophy because the Swedish defenseman of the yr whereas enjoying for Lulea of the SHL and had been universally and constantly ranked as top-of-the-line NHL club-affiliated prospects earlier than making the leap.
His rookie season didn't line up with these assessments, however he would hardly be the primary European to want a season to make the adjustment to the forecheck-heavy North American recreation.
It's simply that there is no such thing as a room on the inn for the foreseeable future for Lundkvist with Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba and the 6-2 Schneider — who performs with the bodily edge favored by Gerard Gallant — locked in on the proper aspect in New York.
After all, an damage or two would change all that. The Blueshirts have been remarkably wholesome on the again finish final season, with the highest 4 of Fox, Trouba, Ryan Lindgren and Ok’Andre Miller shedding a complete of six video games to damage on the yr. That luck isn't a assure for the approaching season. And there's no organizational depth on the proper aspect to talk of behind the varsity lettermen. That's the reason Drury doesn't wish to merely discard Lundkvist.
The Blueshirts, although, might definitely use a younger, top-nine-type middle who may develop with the group. That's believed to be Drury’s goal as they take care of this newest state of affairs involving a younger European sad together with his plight.
This state of affairs is distinct from the experiences with each Lias Andersson and Vitali Kravtsov, every of whom hightailed it again to their respective native lands when sad with their remedy throughout the group. This isn't that.
Lundkvist has no points with administration. He simply sees an unyielding roadblock forward. If certainly one of his best attributes is the flexibility to run the facility play, he is not going to get that chance so long as Fox is sporting the uniform. It will mark the primary yr of Fox’s eight-year contract extension.
Curiously, Lundkvist would have turn out to be an unrestricted free agent this summer season had he remained in Sweden and never signed with the Blueshirts in June 2021. However he opted to signal an entry-level contract that has two years to go.
It's unclear precisely what sort of leverage Lundkvist would acquire by staying dwelling quite than coming to camp. Drury final yr didn't commerce Kravtsov after he returned to Russia as an alternative of accepting an task to the AHL when the GM didn't obtain affords he thought of of equal worth. After a season within the KHL, Kravtsov will probably be again at camp competing for a top-nine job on the wing.
However neither the Rangers nor Lundkvist’s camp need issues to get that far. That's the reason the Blueshirts are looking for to grant the Swede’s request, even when they won't rush into it.
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