Rangers scratch Brady Skjei as Nylander rumors swirl

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Brady Skjei is scratched tonight for the first time since December 23rd, 2016. This is big news as Larry Brooks’ dropped an article earlier tonight which adds weight to our reporting from November 11th. In that article, I wrote that the Rangers are interested in William Nylander and that it would take Brady Skjei plus to get him.

Skjei and Kreider for Nylander

Let’s start with this, Brooks writes:

The Rangers are not among the front-runners in the hunt to acquire Toronto’s restricted free agent forward William Nylander… But they are interested, and of course they are.. The notion somehow circulating through the public sector that the Rangers are out of the running because they won’t send Brady Skjei north as part of the package is as nonsensical as it is false.

Now the rest of the article comes off as a hypothetical, but Larry Brooks usually doesn’t do that without some inside knowledge. The man was recently inducted into the hockey hall of fame so let’s assume he didn’t do that by writing fantasy articles.

The deal he proposes is Brady Skjei and Chris Kreider for William Nylander. The reasons should sound very familiar to readers of this site. He states the Rangers defense prospects depth, such as Libor Hajek, Ryan Lindgren, and K’Andre Miller and more make Skjei available. That is exactly what I stated makes Skjei easier to move.

When it comes to Kreider, it goes back to our post from 11/13 that the 2020 UFA to be is at his highest trade value possible.

Now we know this rumor has some life, let’s see if it has legs.

By Anthony Scultore

Anthony Scultore has been covering the New York Rangers and the NHL since 2014. His work also appears at... More about Anthony Scultore

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