Should we expect the Rangers to trade Nils Lundkvist?

With the recent call up of Braden Schneider, and his first goal notwithstanding, the Rangers assigned Nils Lundkvist to the AHL. While the move itself wasn’t necessarily a surprise, it might has confirmed what most thought for quite some time now. Since the video of JD celebrating landing Schneider at the draft, the educated guess has been that, given a choice, the Rangers would keep Schneider over Lundkvist. There’s a lot of hockey to be played, but all signs point to the Rangers looking to trade Nils Lundkvist at some point in the near future.

The thought of the Rangers looking to trade Nils Lundkvist should be a little scary, as we still are unsure what the plan is from Chris Drury. This isn’t about Lundkvist being bad, or the Rangers giving up on Lundkvist either. It’s about the logjam on right defense. Adam Fox isn’t going anywhere, and it doesn’t look like Jacob Trouba is either. Thus, with one spot left, the Rangers must make a choice. Sometimes, it is purely a numbers game.

The fear of what Drury will do is fair. The direction of the team, sacrificing skill for depth, has irked some. The idea is fine, given the makeup of the team, but the execution has been less than ideal. Drury has created his own problems with some botched trades. Is Drury going to look to go all-in and sacrifice his best trade chips for rentals? Good lord, we all hope not.

Don’t trade Nils Lundkvist for a rental

A hard line for many, including myself, is the Rangers looking to trade Nils Lundkvist for a rental. Lundkvist is going to be a mainstay in the NHL, wherever he lands. His ceiling isn’t Fox-esque, but he projects to be a top four with top powerplay time. That kind of ice time could lead to big numbers. He didn’t exactly fail at the NHL level either. He was saddled with high expectations –of which I am extremely guilty– and those expectations weren’t met. Sometimes, an adjustment is needed.

Lundkvist to the AHL isn’t a demotion, or an indication he doesn’t belong in the NHL. The AHL is a good place for the kids to gain some confidence before jumping to the NHL. Look at how good Zac Jones was during his Covid protocol call up. And as we’ve seen in two games, Schneider has looked good after his stint there as well.

This isn’t news to the Rangers or any other NHL organization. They know what Lundkvist is capable of. Thus, trading him for a rental would be a colossal waste of an asset, reminiscent of the dark ages of Rangers hockey 25 years ago.

Yes, this means for Tomas Hertl as well. If the Rangers trade Nils Lundkvist for Hertl, without a contract extension in hand, it will be a horrible trade in the long term. That kind of trade goes down as inability to capitalize on true trade value.

Can’t keep everyone

The thought process behind a Nils Lundkvist trade is simply that the Rangers can’t keep everyone. As fans, we like to see a team built through the draft, and want to keep all top prospects drafted. That’s just unrealistic and not in the cards for any team.

Lundkvist is likely the best trade chip the Rangers have at the moment, and if the Rangers are going to take that next step, they have clear roster holes to fill. Now in a deal for a long term solution, say at 2C if/when Ryan Strome prices himself out of New York, that’s the kind of deal you dangle Lundkvist for.

Using Hertl as an example again, if San Jose is willing to do a sign and trade, then the Rangers are getting guaranteed years out of Hertl, and Lundkvist is on the table again. But NHL GMs aren’t that creative; this isn’t the NBA.

So what’s next?

There is no rush to trade Nils Lundkvist. This is simply reading between the lines of what we’ve seen since the 2020 NHL Draft. The Rangers, at least in my eyes, value Schneider more than they do Lundkvist. There’s a lot of variables here, and for all we know Schneider regresses hard and doesn’t become an NHLer.

This also appears to be a dual decision between keeping Jones-Schneider, a frequently used pair in Hartford, over Jones-Lundkvist. We saw Gerard Gallant was extremely hesitant to play Jones-Lundkvist, as the pair play similar styles. If Jones is the LD answer, then all signs point to Schneider being the RD answer. It’s just a numbers game.

At some point, the Rangers will likely trade Nils Lundkvist. I don’t see this being a trade deadline deal, where it’s more likely the Rangers look to add short term fixes. However at draft day, when the Rangers are better able to add long term pieces? That’s something I can see happening.