Vitali Kravtsovs role with the Rangers

Some interesting Vitali Kravtsov tidbits, as there may have been a trade to Pittsburgh in the works. It’s unclear if the trade got nixed at some point, but per Sport-Express.ru, in an interview with Alexey Shevchenko, Pittsburgh specifically gets mentioned.

The interview mostly goes over Kravtsov staying in the KHL, a decision both team and player agreed upon to get playing time. Kravtsov does specifically mention that there is no space for him on the roster, but I think he’s more eluding to this year and not in the future. After all, the Rangers do have Pavel Buchnevich, Kaapo Kakko, and Julien Gauthier on RW next season. On Kakko is guaranteed to be part of the long term future as of now.

But the crazy piece of the interview is how Shevchenko kind of glosses over where the Pittsburgh rumors came from. We did suggest that the Rangers might want to consider a Vitali Kravtsov trade in September, but Pittsburgh would not be the ideal landing place.

The only way Kravtsov gets traded is for a haul. He’s a top-ten pick who is currently having a solid season in the KHL. The skill is clearly there. This isn’t a Lias Andersson situation, where the skill just hasn’t shown up. He’s talented. He’s clearly got potential and the Rangers want him as a part of the future. This is a fluid situation that will likely work itself out over the next year or so.

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