The headline Rangers related story – albeit a recently former one – comes from Vladimir Tarasenko, who fired his agent Paul Theofanous and hired J.P. Barry and Pat Brisson.  The move comes a couple of days after Tarasenko was linked to the Carolina Hurricanes, and reportedly received multiple offers from teams in the $5.5M to $6.5M range.

As arguably the best player remaining on the market, the 31 year old Russian is likely to continue to have options for a bit longer, though the number of contenders that could bid for his services are probably relatively small.  Aside from Carolina, it’s thought the Ottawa Senators also have interest, though their options might be constrained a bit until they decide what they do with Alex Debrincat.

Despite some unconfirmed reports that he would love to stay with the Rangers, it’s hard to see how they could make the room to accommodate the veteran right winger.  With around $6.1-6.9M of space remaining, Drury has still yet to come to terms with both Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller.  The two signings are expected to eat up almost all of the projected space, leaving the team well short of even a discounted number.

Which brings us to the next news of the day.

Prospect defenseman Brandon Scanlin filed today for arbitration, which is not unheard of, but is pretty uncommon for minor-leaguers to do.  Scanlin finished his two year ELC this past season, having come in as an undrafted free agent following a three year tour with the University of Nebraska-Omaha.  Scanlin has become a regular on the Hartford Wolf Pack during his two year pro-career, but remains at the lower end of the depth chart for now.

Coincidentally, his filing for arbitration does open up a second buy-out window for the Rangers.  Chris Drury will be able to buy-out any contract over $4M or so (excluding Filip Chytil who extended earlier this year) once all arbitration cases have been settled.  That limits the Rangers to only seven players, and it would seem highly unlikely they would even consider Igor Shesterkin, Adam Fox or Mika Zibanejad.  Additionally, Artemi Panarin‘s buy-out numbers wouldn’t help the Rangers, and likewise letting go of captain Jacob Trouba would seem challenging at this point with a relatively lack of depth in the organization – and in the remaining free agent market.

That leaves the most likely candidates as being Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider.  Kreider’s buyout would save the Rangers around $1.6M this season – followed by two years of $3.6M and then $2.6M, before incurring a cap penalty of $1.4M for four additional years.  Trocheck’s number would be a little higher, with $2.5M saved this season, then $2.3M for one year, before it drops a little under $2M for the remaining four seasons.  He’d carry a $1M cap penalty then for an additional six years, which would probably be manageable.

Would either buy-out get them enough money to bring back Tarasenko?  Maybe not without a significant discount, but they are options.  Alternatively Drury could once again try to find a taker for Barclay Goodrow‘s $3.6M for another four seasons, though it’ll probably cost him something to make that move.

Finally today the Rangers and Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) announced a new affiliation agreement.  For the past two seasons, the Rangers had a nominal deal with the Jacksonville Icemen, but used them sparingly.  Only goaltender Olof Lindbom really spent any time down there last season, and perhaps was a significant reason for the Icemen not to seek a renewal.