With the height of summer passing soon, free-agent opportunities wane while the fanbase still feels there are holes in the Ranger lineup. If GM Chris Drury was willing to use all assets available to trade for an improvement to the forward core what would it look like?
What would it look like if the team was bold enough to try and acquire Minnesota Wild forward, Kirill Kaprizov? Yes, it seems unlikely but he has an expiring contract soon and will be expecting a huge payday, and the team may have to trade him if they can't accommodate his salary needs.
Kaprizov like Artemi Panarin could be persuaded to come to the concrete jungle, and Broadway for many reasons. The Minnesota Wild are out of the window of contentions and could be on a team with a winning roster here in New York, all the while playing with fellow Russians Artemi Panarin and Igor Shesterkin.
However, a $9 M AAV contract will be difficult to accommodate, while the team rosters Jacob Trouba still. Before making the huge move of acquiring Kaprizov, they will have to figure out the Trouba situation, it may be unlikely to move Trouba soon, you never know.
To have two lines of forwards like Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Alexis Lafreniere, followed by Artemi Panarin, Vinnie Troecheck, and Kirill Kaprizov would be one of the most lethal top six in the league.