Chris Drury held a conference call with the media yesterday, and there were some pretty interesting tidbits. Drury was relatively candid, or at least as candid as he can be right now. While he didn’t say so, it’s pretty easy to infer that the Rangers will be aggressive this offseason. It looked like Vince Mercogliano asked most of the questions, and the answers were pretty telling.
The two things that were interesting were that the first round pick is in play, which we expected. The second was the lack of a response to Pavel Buchnevich’s future:
“He’s a terrific player. He’s done so much here and in the life of his Ranger career in terms of growth… We’ll keep trying to figure out what’s best for the group as a whole.”
To me, that quote means that Drury is shopping Buchnevich. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, as it makes sense that he’d at least see what is out there. With the rumors that Barclay Goodrow is going to get $3.6 million, Buchnevich might be a chip to avoid another big contract.
With the #15, Buchnevich, and Ryan Strome apparently in play, it makes you wonder what Drury is up to. That’s two top-six players and a first round pick. If there’s a monster trade incoming, then that trio might get it done. Ottawa has been linked to Strome, but I doubt they are linked to all three pieces.
The end of the expansion draft seems to be the driving force behind any trade. Drury is hinting that the Rangers will be aggressive in the offseason. Landing and (possibly) overpaying Goodrow was step one. It looks like the Rangers are going for it while they still have productive seasons out of their bigger contracts.
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