new york rangers have announced that’s ahead Vitaly Kravtsov AND jake leschyshyn Tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings will be canceled for “roster management reasons.”
Although they use less direct wording, this move may have been made for the same reasons as the soldiers. Vladislav Gavrikov, jacob sigrunAND Dmitry OrlovAmong other things, there are healthy scratches: The team has a trade in mind that they want to make, and they don’t want to ruin their plans and cause injury to the players they want to trade.
While they haven’t apparently been traded yet, and it’s certainly possible this was a precautionary measure, it’s also an official sign that Kravtsov’s time as a Ranger is drawing to a close.
The 23-year-old big winger was the ninth overall pick in the 2018 draft and was seen as one of the core prospects of the Rangers’ rebuilding phase. The team envisioned him as the type of power forward who is becoming increasingly rare in the NHL, but Kravtsov has been largely disappointed since he was drafted.
As Kravtsov’s 2019-20 season was often a flash point in the AHL, there were significant challenges in his development process. It was widely reported that Kravtsov was not comfortable developing his game in the AHL system, and those reports were largely confirmed when he left Hartford midseason to return to the KHL. Kravtsov eventually made a trade request, but remained in the Rangers organization and developed into the KHL.
This season, Kravtsov finally came out of camp to the Rangers and had a real chance to capture a valuable role given New York’s minimal depth at the right wing position to start the year. He hasn’t done much with that opportunity and has a total of six points in 28 games. A failure to seize the moment led Rangers to take over Vladimir Tarasenko of the St. Louis Blues, and the group is interested patrick kane To add more from outside your right wing.
Kravtsov still has enigmatic physical tools, and at times the KHL looks very impressive. But his performance in North America leaves a lot to be desired, and a change of scenery might be the best way forward for both parties.
As for Leskychin, he was a relatively recent waiver claim from New York who played 13 mostly anonymous games for the Rangers. He has averaged 8:21 ice per game for coach Gerard Gallant and could be cut for salary-cap reasons, as the Rangers could send his salary to an expensive incoming player in any trade.
