The Fourth Period: David Pagnotta on the New York Rangers as they continue to struggle.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Kate Pettersen: “They’re struggling. They’ve lost six of their last seven games, but yet they’re still in a wild card spot in the East. Dave, where do they go from here? Are they going to make some changes to their roster? What can they do? Now, the good news is they’ve got a couple days, because they don’t play game until Friday.
Pagnotta: “Yeah. They got a little bit of time to breathe, Kate. A little bit, but the fans in Manhattan, they’re breathing a little bit heavier. They’re sighing a little bit deeper, and
they’re ticked off. And the team you’re seeing frustration that’s now boiling into this room, and it’s translating on the ice even more so.
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As you said, six of the last seven they’ve dropped. They don’t play till Friday. Now they’ve got the next four opponents are against non-playoff teams. They’ve got an opportunity to kind of right the ship a little bit and get back on track. And as you suggested or mentioned, they’re still in a playoff position. This isn’t a team that is, you know, 2-7. Like this is a club where there’s still, they’re still on track to do well this season. They just need to get out of this funk.
The problem is, when you release information that becomes public, that trickles into the room. And now everybody knows (Jacob) Trouba is available. Everybody knows (Kaapo) Kakko is available. Everybody knows Kreider is available, and so on.
So yes, Drury is still continuing, having trade conversations with other clubs. I do think, and have gotten the sense of the last few days that Kakko’s name is a little bit more prominent right now as they try to bring in somebody that can slot into their top six.
And maybe Kakko is the main piece that gets moved out. He’s under contract. He’s on pace for 40-some-odd points. A bit of a rebound from last season. Still not at the echelon that they anticipated the second overall pick in his draft class to be. But he is available. He’s the guy that we’re kind of keeping tabs on right now.
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The other suggestion out there are coaching change. I don’t really get that sense right now that (Peter Laviolette) is in any danger at the moment, but things do need to shift quickly for this club, and they’re counting on at least one potential change to occur to kind of spark them in the right direction.”
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