The New York Rangers would be wise to explore a trade involving Ryan Lindgren at some point this season. The 26-year-old defenseman has struggled early and has already suffered his first injury of the year. Lindgren is also in the last year of his contract, and given the plethora of stars also eyeing extensions, the Blueshirts may not even be able to re-sign him anyway.
One user on Puckpedia put together a mock trade that would send Lindgren to the West Coast as a member of the Los Angeles Kings (h/t Heavy.com). It’s complete speculation, but this user’s trade makes a bit of sense.
Rangers swap Lindgren for Gavrikov in proposed mock trade
In this PuckPedia mock trade, the Rangers would hypothetically send Lindgren, as well as a 2026 third-round pick, to Los Angeles. In return, New York would receive veteran defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov with $1 million retained on his yearly salary.
Similarly to Lindgren, Gavrikov hasn’t had the best start this season. But even in what may end up being a down year for both players, Gavrikov still shows more upside than Lindgren. Gavrikov is right in his prime at 28 years old, and is already a +7 through 13 games played. The main struggle with Gavrikov this season is his lack of offensive production early on, which isn’t something the Rangers particularly need right now.
If this mock trade were to go through, the Rangers would bolster their defensive corps with a safer option than an injury-prone Lindgren. Gavrikov has elite potential, and a possible swap to New York could wake him up for a solid run at the coveted Stanley Cup.
