NHL Trade Rumors: New York Rangers and Teams That Must Make a Deal

The NHL trade rumor mill is burning hot, and it’s time to get to the bare bones of who will be selling and who will be buying.

Teams like the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins may be forced to buy because of injuries to key players, while teams like Anaheim just need to shake things up.

While those teams need help, there are squads like the New York Rangers that are over-achieving that could afford to go get another key piece for a deep playoff run

All of these teams will be in the market for players this trade season, but the ones that pull the trigger will be the ones that see playoff success.

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New York Rangers

With the New York Rangers making ground up in the Atlantic division and right on the cusp of taking the lead, the team needs to get creative and make a move.

There was serious talk that the Rangers were interested in Bobby Ryan for a while, but those talks have cooled off since the coaching change in Anaheim.

If the Ducks continue to struggle, expect a possible trade of Bobby Ryan and expect the Rangers to be in the forefront of the trade negotiations.

Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche are floundering in the Northwest division, and it’s time to shake the party up. That means bye-bye Paul Stastny.

With a $6.7 million cap hit, the trade market will be slim, but there are plenty of teams that could use a skilled center who could play on a top line or command a potent second-line attack.

Reports have Buffalo interested in a trade, but they are apparently too hung up on all their mediocre players to part with them.

Pittsburgh Penguins

After news broke today that Sidney Crosby would be out indefinitely with concussion-like symptoms, the Pittsburgh Penguins just got involved in the trade market.

The Penguins are stuck in arguably the toughest division in hockey this season. If they don’t make the moves needed to adjust to life without Crosby again, they will miss the playoffs.

This is the worst possible news that the Penguins franchise and fans wanted to hear, but the team has to move forward with the players they have and find a deal to make the stretch run easier.

Anaheim Ducks

The coaching change that was supposed to shake up the Anaheim Ducks has done nothing but put a team that was already down further out of their element. It’s time to get serious and make a trade.

If the forwards can’t score, the Ducks need to trade for a player that can put the puck in the net. If they want to plan for the future, they can get many valuable pieces for the future.

The New York Rangers as well as the Flyers and several other teams were asking about Ryan, so if the market opens back up, expect the feeding frenzy to begin.

Philadelphia Flyers

With the long-term injury to Chris Pronger, the Philadelphia Flyers may be in hot water defensively if they can’t find a player to fill the void.

Fellow defenseman Andreas Lilja is also hurt, so the pressure for the Flyers to be aggressive on the trade market for a new defenseman is reaching a fevered pitch.

Philadelphia has plenty of assets to deal after their wild offseason of trading and free agent spending. I expect a move sooner rather than later.