Former top 10 pick asks Rangers to trade him

The New York Rangers added to their team in a big way last week, picking up sniper Vladimir Tarasenko in a trade with the St. Louis Blues. Now, it looks like the team may not be done dealing, whether they want to or not.

According to Sports New York, former 9th overall pick Vitali Kravtsov has asked to be dealt. Following the Tarasenko trade, Kravtsov was given what amounted to an audition on the second line. It clearly didn't go the way the team had hoped, and Kravtsov is back to being a healthy scratch. Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant indicated that Kravtsov simply didn't perform the way he had hoped.

The relationship between the Rangers and Kravtsov has been strained from the very beginning. After failing to make the main team on opening night of the 2019-20 season, Kravtsov was sent to the AHL. He was not pleased with the assignment. He played five games in Hartford, and then ended up back in the KHL in his home country of Russia for the rest of that season. In 2021, he failed to make the team again, but refused an assignment to the AHL, instead opting to play in Russia once again. He was also given permission to have his agent facilitate a trade if one could be found. Kravtsov signed a one-year contract extension with New York in June 0f 2022.

The NHL's trade deadline for the 2022-23 season is 4 PM ET on Friday, March 3rd.

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