Stephenson: Rangers shopping on draft weekend

LAS VEGAS – As the players are coming off the board in the first round of the NHL Draft Friday night in the glittering Sphere, Rangers general manager Chris Drury won’t be sitting around, twiddling his thumbs and waiting for his team’s turn at pick No. 30 overall.

No, Drury figures to be busy working the phones and trying to make deals.

The Athletic reported on Thursday that Drury had asked defenseman Jacob Trouba to provide him with his 15-team no-trade list, which is due before Monday. Trouba, who signed a seven-year, $56 million contract after the Rangers acquired him from Winnipeg in 2019, had full no-move protection for the first five years but only partial no-trade protection for the final two.

Asking for Trouba’s no-trade list would suggest Drury wants to investigate the possibility of trading the Rangers’ captain, who struggled through a disappointing playoffs as the Rangers were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference final.

Trouba, 30, is under contract for two more years, at a salary cap hit of $8 million. If Drury could move him off the roster – even if he is forced to retain salary in order to make a trade – that would open up some cap space to aid in his attempts to make a splash in free agency, which begins Monday.

In addition to looking to move Trouba, Drury likely is looking into trading away young forward Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick overall in the draft five years ago who has struggled through injuries at times. He’s been a fine third-line player but hasn’t popped the way the Rangers were hoping he would have at some point.

It’s all in the attempt to reshape the Rangers’ roster and help them close the gap on Florida, which beat them in six games in the conference final and clearly are the team to beat to reach the Stanley Cup Final next season. Picking 30th in the draft might get them a quality prospect who could help them down the road, but it isn’t likely to bring them a player who can help them beat the Panthers in 2024-25.

Drury already started the process of tweaking the roster when he placed fourth-line center Barclay Goodrow on waivers on June 18. He made the move despite Goodrow’s excellent performance in the playoffs when he scored six goals, two of them shorthanded, and two of them game-winners.

But his cap hit of $3.64 million was a lot for a player who played all season on the fourth line, and Drury needed to clear space in advance of the July 1 start of the free-agent signing period. So he placed Goodrow on waivers, and when San Jose claimed him, that took all of Goodrow’s salary off the Rangers’ books and left them with $12.88 million in space under the $88 million salary cap.

They do still have to re-sign restricted free agents Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider, though. That would likely take them out of the running to chase top free-agent forwards Sam Reinhart and Jake Guentzel, both of whom are likely to command north of $8 or $9 million per season.

And that is where moving Trouba, and to a lesser extent, Kakko, would come in, as it would open up more cap space to allow for Drury to pursue the players at the top of the available wingers list.

At the end of the playoffs, Trouba was playing on the third defense pair, after Schneider had moved up to take his spot on the second pair next to K’Andre Miller. An $8 million cap hit for a third-pair defenseman – even one who has been a fine captain and who has provided physicality, blocked shots and top level penalty-killing – is hard to justify.

But Trouba’s physical presence and leadership would have value to other teams, as would Kakko, who is still a young player at 23, and seems in need of a fresh start. Talking about them to other teams should keep Drury busy while he waits for the Rangers’ turn to pick Friday night.

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.