BUFFALO — Rick Nash is still a Ranger, so is Chris Kreider and so is Derek Stepan. So, for that matter, are Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
And so, as the NHL approaches Friday night’s first round of the Entry Draft that will be followed on Saturday morning by rounds two through seven, Blueshirts general manager Jeff Gorton continues to get a bearing on the trade market rife with chatter about a possible blockbuster deal in which the Oilers would obtain P.K. Subban from the Canadiens.
Sources have told The Post that the Rangers are not offering their assets at a discount; that while Gorton is committed to a summer remodeling, he is not going to take 60 or 80 cents back on the dollar for his top assets simply to create cap space or acquire badly needed draft selections. At the moment, the Blueshirts are not scheduled to pick until 81st overall after having dealt away their first- and second-round selections.
Regarding Nash, who, despite an off-the-charts bad 2015-16, has been the Rangers’ best forward by a considerable margin over his four seasons in New York: The Post has been told the Blues are not interested in dealing for No. 61, even if the 32-year-old winger is one of St. Louis coach Ken Hitchcock’s all-time favorite players.
That should put an end to the hypothetical Nash-for-Kevin Shattenkirk scenario that has been floating about cyberspace. Shattenkirk is a top-four right-handed defenseman the Rangers normally would covet, but, as previously reported in this space, management is leery about the cost of a contract extension for the 27-year-old, whose deal for $4.25 million per expires at the end of the next season and who then would be eligible to hit the open market.
With former Ranger Keith Yandle having signed a seven-year deal worth $6.35 million per with the no-tax-state Panthers on Thursday morning, Shattenkirk likely would be in line for a seven-year deal worth at least $7 million per, though one well-connected individual said the New Rochelle native might be willing to give the Blueshirts a hometown discount.
Sources also have told The Post that Nash — who has submitted a list of 12 teams to which he can be sent as per his modified no-trade contract clause — would not approve a trade to a Canadian team. Options for a deal are thus limited.
Kreider is one of four restricted free agents with salary arbitration rights on the varsity roster, with J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes and Dylan McIlrath the other three. But the 25-year-old power winger, who scored 21 goals each of the past two seasons, is the only one of the quartet just two years away from unrestricted free agency.
As such, the Rangers likely would want to sign Kreider to a long-term deal, though a one-year bridge contract could provide an alternative that would give both parties some breathing room in advance of a long-term commitment.
Gorton has yet to open negotiations — even on a broad scale — with any of the aforementioned quartet. A one-year deal for Kreider would likely be in the $4 million-to-$4.4 million range, while a long-term deal in which the Rangers would be buying out at least a couple of seasons of unrestricted free agency would probably cost at least $5 million per.
“Chris is open to all options, short-term or long-term,” agent Matt Keator told The Post. “He loves New York. That’s where he wants to be.”
The Post has been told the Rangers believe they will be obligated to protect Girardi in next year’s expansion draft as the defenseman’s modified no-trade clause, which kicks in after next season, is layered underneath a no-move clause that remains in effect for the duration of his contract that expires following 2019-20.
Girardi could agree to waive it and thus allow the Rangers to expose him in the expansion draft, given the prohibitive odds against Las Vegas claiming the veteran defenseman. (The same applies to Staal, who also owns a no-move.)
If not, the Blueshirts would have to expose another defenseman who meets the experience threshold (40 games played in 2016-17 or 70 combined over 2015-16 and 2016-17) established by the NHL. Ryan McDonagh and Kevin Klein are the only two defensemen on the current roster who meet the requirement. McIlrath might. Brady Skjei is exempt as a second-year pro.