Vitali Kravtsov hasn’t exactly been lights out this season for the Rangers and it appears the young winger could be on the trading block after he was a healthy scratch in Saturday’s 6-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
Kravtsov’s name came up during Elliotte Freidman’s latest 32 thoughts segment on Sportsnet. The NHL insider said that he thinks he’s made available and the New York Post reported something similar as well on Sunday,
Saturday’s scratch came after he had been put back into the lineup on Friday against the Seattle Kraken for the first time since Dec.23. The Russian forward did little in the way to impress the coaching staff on Friday, playing less than 11 minutes and attempting one shot that missed the net.
When asked if head coach Gerard Gallant was disappointed with what he saw in Kravtsov or if he was just mixing things up on Saturday, the Rangers coach pointed to both.
“A little bit of both,” Gallant said. “I wasn’t disappointed in him but we wanted a different mix tonight. So it was a combination of both.”
For the 23-year-old, that likely isn’t a good sign, especially with the arrival of Vladimir Tarasenko via a trade this week. Kravtsov had been getting a shot on the right wing, but now those chances might be fewer and fewer, and perhaps a fresh start elsewhere would be best for everyone.
This season, Kravtsov has put up six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in 28 games and has been scratched 15 times. He’s also missed 10 games due to injuries.
The Rangers and Kravtsov agreed to an extension during the summer, but his time with the organization has been bumpy. He refused to report to AHL Hartford after he didn’t make the team out of camp for the 2021-22 season and went back to Russia.
He was reportedly given permission to speak with teams about a trade last year, but he remained with the organization.
If a trade is where the situation is headed in the direction of a trade, it will have to come before the NHL trade deadline on March 3.
