Insider Chris Johnston ranks the players most likely to be traded and a lifelong Rangers sits atop the list
The holiday roster freeze is just around the corner and there are some big names that could be traded before that, with the Rangers taking center stage.
It finally boiled over on what has been a chaotic New York Rangers season: Over three weeks ago, general manager Chris Drury informed other teams that veterans Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba could be had.
Today, Jacob Trouba dresses for the Anaheim Ducks, while the Rangers spiral deeper into chaos. All eyes are now on what comes next. Looking at the top five players that could be traded, there's no surprise with who lands first.
No team provides intrigue in what is usually a very quiet NHL trade market than the Rangers do a quarter of the way into the regular season.
Pressure mounts more and more on last year's Presidents' Trophy winners, where reportedly no option is off the table with each loss mounting.
This is hardly a New York-only brewing drama. Elsewhere in the league, other underperforming teams are wrestling with a desire for a change of some kind.
Along with the Rangers, taking hard looks at their trajectories given terribly slow and disappointing starts to the year, come the Nashville Predators, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Islanders.
And if all that wasn't enough, there's the looming NHL roster freeze, which starts at 11:59 p.m. this Thursday and runs right through until 12:01 a.m. on December 28.
So teams have a tiny window to wrap up any moves in advance of this freeze in transactions, adding a little urgency to trade talks. Freeze looming, it's time for teams to make some possible moves, which could lead to an interesting week ahead.
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