Blackhawks add another Rangers forward to their must want list

However, other teams have been working the phones and collaborating with other general managers to try to snag a big trade that would help both teams.

The Chicago Blackhawks and the New York Rangers have several interests as a new name has emerged for the Hawks in Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko.

It's hard to imagine that the Rangers would decide to pass along Kakko as he was the 2nd overall choice in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

Unfortunately, he has not worked out thus far with the Rangers and seems to be pushed out of their long term plans.

On the other side, the Blackhawks are looking to continue their aggressive rebuild plans as the team has been devoid of talent aside Connor Bedard and Kevin Korchinski.

They too have a player that has not worked in their favor and seems to be regressing by the day.

Lukas Reichel, also touted to be a high value player who was slated to be an excellent scoring winger for the Blackhawks has yet to transpire.

With the team so deep into rebuilding and lack of quality centers, Reichel cannot get his game going and may need a change of scenery.

Could the stage be set for Kakko - Reichel swap? Or a combination of Johnson, Reichel and picks for Kaako, picks or prospects be on the horizon? It's possible.

As they say, where there's smoke there's fire and it's highly likely that something is brewing between the Blackhawks and the Rangers as the Blackhawks have spare parts to sell and the Rangers in a win now mode as buyers.