Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The New York Rangers Get Their Defenseman And The San Jose Sharks Should Trade For Henrik Lundqvist

06/18/2019 at 8:29am EDT

from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

The acquisition of Jacob Trouba most certainly does not represent a deviation from the Rangers’ plan to build from the ground up for the long-term. Rather, the addition of the 25-year-old righty defenseman enhances the program.

It sets up the Blueshirts to be a more competitive team this season, yes, for sure, but at no cost to the future. Trouba will be a fixture on Broadway for a long time; probably for at least the seven-year term of the contract the impending restricted free agent is expected to sign once negotiations kick into gear.

The cost of the contract will be high — start at $7.5 million per and go from there — but the cost of acquisition was far more reasonable than could reasonably have been expected. As reported by The Post on Saturday, Trouba was not only being aggressively sought by the Blueshirts, but by up to a dozen teams, including the Islanders and Devils.

continued

Also from Brooks,

The Sharks are in the midst of one of the longer runs as one of the league’s upper-echelon teams not to win a Stanley Cup. Emile’s Rangers had about seven years, the French Connection Sabres had about the same number of kicks at the can, the Predators of recent vintage less than a half-decade, but the Sharks, well, they have come up empty every time since Joe Thornton became their centerpiece during the 2005-06 season.

And following their conference finals elimination by the Blues in six games, the Sharks are going all-in again as evidenced by Monday’s re-signing of pending free agent Erik Karlsson to a stunning eight-year, $88 million contract. Damn the long-term consequences, San Jose is going Bay Area Big Three on the back end with Karlsson, Norris finalist Brent Burns and Marc-Eduard Vlasic.

Loaded on the back, talented enough up front even as it appears there isn’t going to be enough room under the cap to re-up pending free-agent center (and captain) Joe Pavelski, the Sharks would seem to have one problem area. That’s in net, where the club received sub-standard work from Martin Jones most of the season and intermittently in the tournament.

And so, with San Jose GM Doug Wilson doing whatever he can to keep the window open a year after trading for Karlsson, I wonder if he might go the next logical step and attempt to shore up his goaltending.

I wonder, in fact, whether Wilson might make the call to the Rangers to inquire about Henrik Lundqvist.

continued

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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