Rangers unlikely to trade Kakko or 1st round pick for Frank Vatrano

The Frank Vatrano rumors won’t go away, but at least now they are starting to make some kind of logical sense. Despite rumors that the Rangers would need to part ways with Kaapo Kakko or their 2024 1st round pick for Vatrano, Larry Brooks is refuting this.

Despite some folks’ feelings on Kakko, it would be a tremendous waste of assets to deal him for Vatrano, who only has one more goal at 5v5 than Kakko. The same goes for their 1st round pick. Even though many seem to love Vatrano, he’s not worth that kind of cost.

Again, it’s more likely the Rangers deal from aging out prospects. If it’s assumed a guy like Matthew Robertson will be dealt in an Alex Wennberg trade, and if we assume Zac Jones is not in their future plans, then we can assume Jones is the lynchpin in a deal for Chris Drury.

Obviously this is all conjecture and nothing is confirmed. Both Drury and Ducks GM Pat Verbeek are stubborn, so it may come down to the wire. Or perhaps the Rangers simply go another direction if Verbeek won’t budge.