It was only a few short years ago that the team sent out 'the letter' informing fans that the Rangers were going to be entertaining a rebuild to make them back into a consistent contender. Well, that rebuild turned into a retool real quickly when they were able to bring in Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox.
The majority of this team's leadership now is made up of players who were brought in via trade or free agency. They've brought in so many players now that the entire top-6 beside Kreider is made up of players they've brought in to the organization with trades or free agency.
Bringing in all these players has made it hard for the young draft picks to get a chance at playing time, or even in this case, in the roster. They currently have a full third line of former 1st round players in Lafreniere, Kakko and Chytil. But the player who is now asking to get out of New York is 2018, 9th overall pick Vitali Kravtsov.
Kravtsov has been back and forth between the AHL, KHL and NHL these past few seasons. The kid is only 23 years old and has shown he has a lot of skill, but with the depth of established players in New York, these young players are not getting the opportunity to truly succeed.
After bringing Tarasenko, Kravtsov no longer has a spot in the lineup and it looks like he has finally had enough of New York.
Larry Brooks from the Post has reported;
#NYR per Larry Brooks, Kravtsov camp has requested a trade if he's not a part of the clubs immediate plans.� Joe Albanese (@jalbanese27) February 13, 2023
Kravtsov has only gotten into 28 games this season with the Rangers, scoring 3 goals and 6 points, but he is definitely capable of much more:
POLL | ||
13 FEVRIER | 73 ANSWERS REPORT: New York Rangers former 1st round pick demands TRADE Will he become a 30+ goal scorer somewhere else? | ||
yes | 37 | 50.7 % |
no | 36 | 49.3 % |
List of polls |