NHL Rumors: Jack Eichel and Vitali Kravtsov
Dreger on Buffalo Sabres Jack Eichel. New York Rangers said Vitali Kravtsov's AHL stint may have been short-lived but he wasn't interested.
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Dreger on Eichel

WGR 550: Darren Dreger on The Instigators on Friday on Jack Eichel: “Jack Eichel’s agents continue to make way with doctors, steadily gathering information through specialists on the artificial disk replacement surgery. But other than that, nothing much more to update.”

WGR 550: Dreger continued: “I think there’s been ample dialogue. There’s reason to be creative with talks between the #Sabres and other teams surrounding Jack Eichel. But I didn’t get any sense recently that any deal was close to being done.”

Kravtsov’s AHL stint may have been short-lived but he wasn’t interested

Vince Z. Mercogliano: New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant when asked if any attempt was made to add Vitali Kravtsov to the roster after Kaapo Kakko was injured.

“That’s not my department… (Chris Drury) is talking daily, I’m sure, with the agent. But I don’t know much information about it. I’m worried about the guys that are here.”

Vincent Z. Mercogliano of Lohud: The Rangers feel that Kravtsov could become a more complete NHL player if he spent some time in the AHL developing further. Kravtsov feels the Rangers gave him false promises for this season.

Kravtsov did miss a week of camp with an injury that put him back in learning the Rangers systems and possibly his conditioning.

Multiple sources have said that any Kravtsov AHL assignment would have been a short-term thing. It’s believed the Rangers indicated to Kravtsov camp that it would short-term thing if he played well. Kravtsov obviously didn’t feel that this would be the case and requested a trade.

From Kravtsov’s side of things, he’s had some distrust with the organization dating back to May of 2019. He believed that he’d be playing in the NHL after he signed his entry-level contract but that wasn’t the case. He returned for the 2019-20 playoffs but was left off their bubble roster. He spent last season in the KHL.

Kravtsov was in the rumor mill this past offseason. One source said that the relationship between the Rangers and Kravtsov can’t be fixed.

Teams are interested but are trying to get at a discounted price. The Rangers were in a similar situation with Lias Andersson. They held firm and didn’t rush his trade. The Rangers received a second-round pick him.