Updated on Wednesday, February 4 at 5:13p
NEW YORK RANGERS TRADE BAIT
These are the players most likely to be shopped by the New York Rangers ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline on March 6, at 3p ET. They are listed in order of perceived interest from teams around the league.
- Artemi Panarin, LW Traded 2-4-26
- Vincent Trocheck, C
- Braden Schneider, D
- Alexis Lafreniere, RW/LW
- Carson Soucy, D Traded 1-26-26
- Taylor Raddysh, LW/RW
- Sam Carrick, C
- Conor Sheary, RW/LW
- Jonathan Quick, G
- Urho Vaakanainen, D
- Juuso Parssinen, C
- Jonny Brodzinski, C
NEW YORK RANGERS TRADE TRACKER
1-26-26
New York Rangers traded D Carson Soucy to the New York Islanders for a 2026 third-round pick. Soucy, who was acquired a year ago from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick, will be a UFA on July 1.
Grade: B No harm, no foul as GM Chris Drury gets back what he gave up for the veteran defenseman.
2-4-26
New York Rangers traded F Artemi Panarin to the Los Angeles Kings for RW Liam Greentree, a conditional 2026 third-round pick (upgrades to a second-round pick if LA wins one playoff round this spring), and a conditional 2028 fourth-round pick (conveys if LA wins two playoff rounds this spring). The Kings then extended Panarin for 2-years/$22m.
Grade: F Panarin held all the cards, and Drury had no leverage. Based on that, an argument could be made that the Rangers did well to extract one of the Kings’ top prospects.
I reject that argument based on precedents set by the Rangers themselves.
- In 2014, Martin St. Louis demanded a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning. He made it clear he did not want to play for GM Steve Yzerman anymore, and stated he would only play for the New York Rangers. Despite having zero leverage, Tampa was able to secure Ryan Callahan and two first-round picks from the Rangers for 38-year-old St. Louis, plus a second-round and seventh-round pick.
- In 2019, Jacob Trouba told Winnipeg he wanted to live in New York to accommodate his wife’s medical career. The Rangers jumped at the opportunity by sending Neal Pionk and a first-round pick to the Jets and signing Trouba to a 7-year/$56m extension.
- In 2023, Patrick Kane was struggling with Chicago due to a chronic hip condition. Heading into the trade deadline, he told the rebuilding Blackhawks that he would waive his no-trade clause if they sent him to Madison Square Garden.
To acquire Kane, the Rangers needed to accrue cap space, which they did by offloading Vitaly Kravtsov and purposely playing with a short bench for weeks. Plus, they sent a second-round draft pick to Arizona in exchange for the Coyotes to pay half of Kane’s remaining salary.
After all of these machinations — they still sent a second and a fourth rounder to Chicago to complete the deal. Kane played out the season, had hip surgery, and then signed with the Detroit Red Wings.
Kudos to the Kings for having the discipline that the Rangers have lacked under Glen Sather, Jeff Gorton, John Davidson, and Drury.
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