Per Elliotte Friedman, the Rangers are now “the favorite” to land Seattle center Alex Wennberg. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as there have been clear indications the Rangers are moving things along to acquire the center, who was Artemi Panarin’s teammate in Columbus.
Per Larry Brooks, the expected cost is the Rangers’ 2024 2nd round pick –their only 2nd rounder in the next 3 seasons– and a “mid level prospect.” The phrase mid-level prospect is subjective, but it’s again safe to assume the Rangers would want to deal from aging out prospects like Matthew Robertson.
The Kraken can retain 50% of Wennberg’s $4.5 million cap hit, making him a Ranger for $2.25 million. The Rangers will have $5.237 million in LTIR overage, plus whatever cap space they had banked, which likely isn’t much. At $2.25 million, the Rangers would have $3.012 million in cap space for a 1RW, which isn’t much.
The hold up may be for a 3rd party to retain more salary, which would likely cost the Rangers a 5th round pick, per Puck Pedia’s cap retention calculator. It sounds like the trade is shaping up to be a prospect like Robertson, a 2024 2nd, and a 5th round pick (year TBD) for Wennberg at 25%.
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