from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

- Chances are that if the Rangers make a substantial move leading into Friday’s first round of the entry draft in Dallas, it will involve Kevin Hayes. Multiple sources report the 26-year-old impending Group II free-agent center has attracted significant interest from around the league as general manager Jeff Gorton sifts through various scenarios both connected to and independent of improving the club’s ninth-overall position.

- The Blueshirts have talked with Carolina about moving up to second overall, where the team would jump all over right wing Andrei Svechnikov, but though the dynamic could change through the week, such a deal seems extremely unlikely.

- Brendan Smith, meanwhile, has remained in New York following the season in order to work on his fitness with Ben Prentiss. The Rangers expect him to not only be in the mix for a job, but to be the player to whom they awarded that four-year, $17.4 million deal last June.

- Ilya Kovalchuk has not eliminated the Rangers from his list, but we’re told that the dynamic free agent winger would only come to Broadway if the Blueshirts acquire a player or two who would vault the club into contending status. In other words, probably not.

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