Sekeres and Price: Frank Corrado says that the Elias Pettersson speculation to the Pittsburgh Penguins makes so much sense from the Penguins side of things. Watching how Sidney Crosby prepares could do wonders for Pettersson.
“Prior to Nashville, it was like the, the hot team on the Elias Pettersson front was the Pittsburgh Penguins, and I kind of thought about that, and I was like, that makes a lot of sense on a few different levels.
First of all, if we just go with like the Pettersson angle. Like he’s a veteran. He makes a lot of money. I get that, but for him, if you were just gonna watch one person operate every single day, it would be number 87.
Like if you couldn’t put it together after watching the way that that guy prepares and trains and thinks and just walks and talks, then you’re just not going to put it together. You’re just not. Like that’s the best possible example that you could, you could find in this kind of situation where, you know, we’ve heard now that, not prepared coming into the season. Like he’s, he’s lost his fastball. Like that’s the guy you want to watch.”
NHL Rumors: Pittsburgh Penguins, and the St. Louis Blues
A few New York Rangers musings
Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic: The New York Rangers have had a good offseason retooling their roster. They remade their second pairing on the blue line by adding Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson. The top-six forward group has taken a step back since the trade deadline with the loss of Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck.
Winger Alexis Lafreniere has only 66 points in 129 games since signing his seven-year, $7.45 million per contract. The Rangers didn’t want to sell low on him, and held on to him in the hope that he can continue to build on his play after the deadline. He put up 14 goals and 14 assists in their final 27 games last year.
The Rangers will be on the lookout for a No. 1 center over the next few years. Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller will be placeholders for the next few years, but both are 33-years-old. Cole Beaudoin is their top center prospect, but he’s not seen as a top-six guy. They do still own their 2027 first-round pick, and it’s a deep center draft class, but that would mean they’d have to have a bad season to land a top guy.
NHL Rumors: Columbus Blue Jackets, and Forward Options for the New York Rangers
There would be the dream scenario of adding a Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews or Leon Draisaitl, but who knows if they’d ever be made available, and unless the Rangers are winning, why would they choose New York?
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