In his most recent 32 Thoughts piece, Elliotte Friedman noted that he believes that the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings are currently out of the Jakob Chychrun sweepstakes.
It’s very surprising to hear that the Rangers are currently out of them, especially. It was just reported by Jeff Marek a few days ago that they made an offer for him. The specific offer was not completely revealed, but Vitali Kravtsov was the big prospect in it. Yet, it appears that the Coyotes expect more in a trade, so maybe that has scared off of the Rangers for now.
As for the Kings, they are in the position to make a big splash. At this point of the season, they have a 21-16-6 record and are third in the Pacific Division. They appear to be moving past their rebuilding stage and have the prospect pool to make a deal happen. However, it seems possible that they feel Arizona’s asking price is too high as well.
Although each team is expected to be out of the sweepstakes. that doesn’t mean that they can’t jump right back in it. Things are starting to heat up, so as we inch closer to the deadline, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear that they are interested again.
Photo Credit: © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
