NY Rangers Miss Out on Potential Trade Target to Predators

The New York Rangers have missed out on a potential trade candidate to the Nashville Predators.

Jan 14, 2021; New York, NY, USA; New York Rangers players huddle around the center ice logo as they prepare for the home opener against the New York Islanders at Madison Square Garden. / USA TODAY Sports

With free agency set to start soon, the New York Rangers are getting prepared for what will be a hectic couple of weeks. 

As free agency opens up on July 1st, there will undoubtedly be a flurry of moves made around the league. While this class might not have been the strongest, there will still be ways for the Rangers to improve with who is available. 

So far, the offseason has been a good one for New York. In the first round of the NHL Draft, they were able to land Alberts Smits with the fifth overall pick to improve the left side of the defense. However, it was the addition of Pavel Dorofeyev that was really the game-changer. 

Acquiring Dorofeyev has shown what the plan for the Rangers going forward is going to be. This is a team that will be looking to add younger talent to grow with over the long term, while helping for next season as well. Considering he is coming off a 37-goal year, Dorofeyev will provide the team with the pure scorer that they have been seeking. 

Reportedly, Mavrik Bourque will be heading to the Nashville Predators, making it a potential target for New York coming off the board.  

Rangers Will Have to Look Elsewhere

The Dallas Stars trade forward Mavrik Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Nashville’s own 2nd round pick in 2027 and Vegas’ 3rd round pick in 2028.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 1, 2026

With some news about Bourque going to the Predators, New York will not be landing a potential good fit. While he did meet the criteria of what the Rangers are seemingly looking for this summer, Bourque isn’t going to be their guy. 

The 24-year-old center is coming off his career year, and with him being a restricted free agent, the timing for that is good. With the Stars, he totaled 41 points with 20 goals and 21 assists. With a significant increase in ice time compared to his rookie season, Bourque showed some real improvement and is projected to be a good player. 

Due to some of the uncertainty surrounding the Vincent Trocheck situation, help up the middle right now isn’t a major need. Even if the team does move on from Trocheck, they still will have J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad up the middle. Bourque is the type of player that the Rangers would have loved to add, but after just trading for Dorofeyev, they might not have wanted to move more assets for another restricted free agent. Overall, even though he was a strong fit, New York does have needs in other areas as well.