NHL Rumors: Rangers must decide on Pavel Buchnevich future, Stars may move Anton Khudobin, and Dustin Brown with Penguins?
Anthony Scultore
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The New York Rangers are neither sellers or buyers at this point in the season. With 15 games to go before the April 12 trade deadline, they may still work themselves into the playoff picture. If they don’t you can expect them to move players like Brendan Smith and Kevin Rooney for draft picks.
NHL Rumors: Pavel Buchnevich’s Rangers future
Pavel Buchnevich is the Rangers leading scorer this season with 22 points in 26 games. The 25 year-old leading the team is more a byproduct of Artemi Panarin being out for almost half the season due to injury and a leave of absence. Let’s not forget Mika Zibanejad’s Broadway sized slump either.
However, while the Rangers may have had him on the potential trade chip block for a center in the offseason, a change of heart is likely. That will happen when you play really well.
Though the organization seems stacked on the wings, moving the first-liner would create a hole that might take at least a couple of years to fill. If the Rangers are going to trade Buchnevich, they would have to get either a no-doubt, youngish top-six center or a more grinding-oriented winger in the mold of a Zach Hyman, let’s say, in return. Both of those scenarios seem unlikely.
Larry Brooks, NY Post
That’s why when doing my digging on the Jack Eichel trade rumors I was guided to Vitali Kravtsov and not Pavel Buchnevich being the right winger Jeff Gorton would rather move.
NHL Rumors: Dallas Stars may move Anton Khudobin
How quickly one player can go from Stanley Cup playoff hero to possible trade bait in the NHL. That’s the case for Dallas Stars goalie Anton Khudobin who may be lost to the Seattle Kraken expansion draft if they choose not to move him at the deadline.
Trading Khudobin comes with a number of layers. The Stars will (likely) have Ben Bishop back by the trade deadline. Jake Oettinger has played well as a backup this season. If the Stars think Seattle selects Khudobin in the expansion draft, might they try to get something in return instead of coming away empty-handed? Landon Bow and Colton Point would still fulfill the goalie requirement for the expansion draft even without exposing Khudobin.
Matthew DeFranks, Dallas News
This season Khudobin is 5-8-1 with a 2.65 GAA, and a .907 SV%. The 34 year-old signed a three year deal this summer for a $3.33M AAV. Should they opt to move him there should be at least one team in Alberta interested.
NHL Rumors: Dustin Brown in Pittsburgh
How’s this for a trade deadline deal. Longtime Kings forward Dustin Brown as the Penguins win-now move? Well that’s exactly what Scott Burnside of The Athletic would like to see.
That brings us to a guy Hextall will know very well from his time in Los Angeles — two-time Stanley Cup champion Dustin Brown. Brown is having a renaissance season and has one year left on his current deal at a hefty $5.875 million. The Kings might eat some of that depending on what kind of piece gets sent back. Given the overloaded state of the Pittsburgh blue line maybe there’s a young defensive bauble that satisfies the Kings end of things.
The Athletic
The 36 year-old forward has 13 goals on the season to go with 6 assists in 26 games. He has one more year on his contract with a cap hit of $5.875M. Interesting take for sure.