The New York Rangers could be forced to trade Pavel Buchnevich or Vladislav Namestnikov given the team’s current salary cap situation.
The internet had two stories that had people buzzing all day on Tuesday. One was a new face app that shows people how they would look when they get old (I use a mirror for that).
The second story talked about the New York Rangers and who might be on the trading block. The names that caused all the fuss were Pavel Buchnevich and Vladislav Namestnikov
According to Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post, the Rangers are assessing their current salary cap situation in the wake of signing Artemi Panarin.
“Also on the trade block would be restricted free agent Pavel Buchnevich, as well as Vladislav Namestnikov,” wrote Cyrgalis.
Buchnevich is scheduled to have an arbitration hearing on July 29. Since he is an “arbitrated eligible restricted free agent,” he has no salary hit against the team’s cap as of now. The Rangers, as everyone is well aware of, have a little over $7 million in cap space with four restricted free agents to be signed.
Trades are inevitable this summer so is the thought of trading Buchnevich surprising? No, the team would be crazy not to listen to any offers. John Davidson and Jeff Gorton are far from done retooling.
The thought of trading Buchnevich could indicate the club has made a decision on what to do with Chris Kreider. It could be a feeler put out by the team to see if there is interest out there to acquire the Russian forward.
Either way, the team’s first arbitration hearing is scheduled for July 25 (Jacob Trouba). The team will have to have an idea of how their salary cap situation will unfold prior to that date. Of course, the Blueshirts could sign Trouba and/or Buchnevich before their arbitration hearing, but that is very doubtful until the team moves some salary.
The next week or so will be a lot of fun to watch and to see what transpires.
