Crazy report that the Rangers are trading Alexis Lafreniere for another disappointing draft bust

New York Rangers GM Chris Drury reportedly met with his players this past Friday and informed them that a rebuild or retool is coming for the roster between new and next season.

"Drury spoke to the team on Friday to inform players of the retool and he met one on one with members of the leadership group," Rangers insider Peter Baugh reports.

Incidentally though, former 1st overall pick Alexis Lafreniere told Baugh that he hasn't spoken at all to Drury about the retool and his place in it all.

"Lafreniere said that Drury has not spoken with him individually about his future," said Baugh in his report.

That... that doesn't bode well.

There's some sentiment online today that Lafreniere is as good as gone and could be moved as early as today or later this upcoming weekend.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman today linked Lafreniere to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for another disappointing draft choice: Shane Wright.

From Friedman:

"The talk of Seattle maybe moving Shane Wright is real. Team is looking for a dynamic scorer and hoping maybe Wright can get them that. The idea of Shane Wright for Alexis Lafreniere isn't the worst idea I've ever heard. In this scenario, the Rangers wouldn't sell Lafreniere for 50 cents on the dollar. It's former 1st-overall for 4th-overall in a change of scenery deal."

Lafreniere, of course, was the 1st overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draftbut he has failed to live up to expectations through five and a half seasons so far. Wright, who was projected to go 1st overall in 2022 but fell to 4th overall, has struggled to even get into the lineup so far in his career. He has played just one and a half full season in the NHL in four years.

A change of scenery swap certainly makes a lot of sense. It's also worth pointing out that the Kraken took a chance on failed Rangers #2 pick Kaapo Kakko last season.

Friedman also reported today that veteran forward Artemi Panarin is open to a trade and would prefer a move to the Florida Panthers.

Panarin, of course, has a full no-trade clause and is in control of where he ends up via trade. It's believed that the Panthers' contender status and Panarin's close relationship with Panthers goaltender and former Columbus Blue Jackets teammate Sergei Bobrovsky is at the heart of his reasoning.

From Friedman on today's 32 Thoughts podcast:

"I think Panarin would love to play in Florida... with Bobrovsky, but I just don't know that that's going to be possible. Never count out the Panthers doing what they have to do to get the player they want, but that's going to be a hard one."

Here's the thing... I think if you polled just about any NHL player on a losing team, they'd love a chance to get traded to Florida. Panarin isn't much different in that respect. The problem, of course, is that he carries an $11+ million cap hit, albeit on an expiring deal. If Panarin and the Panthers are truly keen on each other, they could probably wait until the offseason to get a deal done on a new contract.

In the meantime, there are probably other teams who would jump at the chance to acquire Panarin for a rental with the chance to woo him into a contract extension.

Friedman suspects that Panarin would consider the Los Angeles Kings for such an arrangement.

Again from today's podcast:

"I also think Panarin would consider LA. They (LA) need a fresh coat of paint. Kopitar is retiring after this year. It's been a hard season for them. I think one of the things that's being discussed inside LA is, 'Are we really throwing in all our chips this year?' Now, if suddenly Panarin is presented to you with an extension... it wouldn't be a short-term thing, he takes us into the post-Kopitar era, probably plays with Byfield... I could see them saying, 'this makes sense'."

Now, the LA rumor seems to be speculation at this point, but it's becoming more and more clear that Panarin's time in the Big Apple is coming to an end.Block Field