Whenever a high-profile NHL player becomes available, it’s a good bet that the New York Rangers are one of the teams sniffing around. After all, this is the same franchise that has brought in superstars like Patrick Kane, Jaromir Jagr, and Pavel Bure in the past. Heck, even Wayne Gretzky made his stop in the Big Apple before retiring.
So it’s no surprise to hear that the Rangers were one of the teams calling about star defenseman Quinn Hughes before he was traded to the Minnesota Wild. Their current marquee player, Artemi Panarin, is in the final year of his contract with New York, and is entering his mid-thirties. While defenseman Adam Fox and goaltender Igor Shesterkin are big enough names to throw on a poster, the Broadway Blueshirts could be itching to find their next leading man.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by The Fourth Period‘s David Pagnotta to discuss the Rangers’ interest in Hughes and their desire to make a splash in the trade market.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The Rangers were one of those teams where it popped up that they had interest in (Hughes), they were looking. How legit was that, and was it just interest in Hughes or are they itching to do something big at some point and bring in a big name?
David Pagnotta: It definitely sounds like that’s what they want to do. They are one of the teams that are big-game hunting, so to speak. I categorize Carolina in that mix, and Utah before, and Seattle to an extent, and some of these other clubs that are always in the mix. Montreal as well, always kind of there. It sounds like New York is another one of those teams.
Yes, they had legitimate interest in Quinn Hughes. They didn’t have the necessary pieces collectively to make something like that happen, or willingness. It was kind of both sides, it wasn’t just one area. That signifies to me, and talking to other people around the league, that if there is another opportunity to bring in a big fish, and not just anybody, not a guy in his mid-thirties, a guy in his mid-twenties that you can grow with, it looks like that’s what the Rangers would like to do. It doesn’t mean they’re going to, it doesn’t mean they can do that, especially in-season. But it definitely signifies Chris Drury is looking around to see “How do we make an impact type of addition that’s going to affect our core and be part of our core for a lengthy period of time.”
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…