The NHL offseason is moving along slowly but it certainly continues to pick up steam. Three names that were recently written about in the media are Jesper Fast, Tony DeAngelo, and Ryan Strome.
Jesper Fast rumors
Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic wrote about the ramifications of Jesper Fast’s departure today. He relayed word from someone within the organization that said, “I didn’t know when we lost one player, we would lose three.”
That comment was to reinforce Fast’s importance to the Panarin and Strome line this season. Carpinello then opines on what the Rangers can do to re-sign him or how they handle the lineup when he departs.
However, in a recent Swedish interview (translated here) Fast said, “It would have been fun if I got the chance to stay. At the same time, a new role would be exciting. I’m open to anything.”
On September 1st, I spoke to a source with knowledge of the situation that told me “the window has passed.” Fast also revealed in the interview he knows he has options.
Tony DeAngelo rumors
Over at Sportsnet, they broke down the latest rumors on the top RFAs on the market. Number 3 on their list was Rangers defenseman, Tony DeAngelo.
The Rangers are one of the rare squads loaded with young, talented, right-shot defencemen. DeAngleo is joined by Jacob Trouba, 26, and rookie Adam Fox, 22, in that category. With New York winning the Alexis Lafreniere sweepstakes and shaping into a team that’s ready to run back into playoff contention in 2020-21, GM Jeff Gorton is facing raises (or trades) at every position, with intriguing RFAs coming up at forward (Strome, Brendan Lemieux) and in net (Alexandar Georgiev) as well.
Luke Fox, Sportsnet
They also cited, Larry Brooks article saying the Rangers are shopping DeAngelo because they won’t commit to a must-year deal in fear of losing Nils Lundkvist coming over. I spoke with a team source who simply asked, “when was the last time a player, a first rounder no less, did that?”
Ryan Strome rumors
In that same article, Strome was listed at 14 and is an interesting case per Luke Fox.
Strome is a perplexing case. The most senior guy on this list, he had mustered just one goal and one assist in 18 games with Edmonton in 2018-19 but has absolutely taken off since being traded back to New York City, proving more than capable of a top-six role. If you’re the Rangers, how much term do you give a forward whose numbers have fluctuated so wildly over the course of a career that’s toured through three franchises?
Luke Fox, Sportsnet
I briefly chatted with Strome’s agent who said they were just getting ready to negotiate about two weeks. I will follow up next week as well. Fox reiterates the common belief that Strome will be signed to a one year deal.
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