Acting with deliberate speed in the wake of the news 41-goal scorer Marian Gaborik will require right shoulder surgery that could sideline the sniper into December of next season, Rangers general manager Glen Sather has been in touch with Predators GM David Poile regarding impending Group II free agent winger Alexander Radulov, The Post has learned.
Radulov, who will turn 26 next month, has a lucrative contract offer on the table from CKSA of the KHL, the league in which he played the last four seasons before returning to the Predators for the stretch run and the playoffs, but a well-placed source has told The Post the winger would prefer to continue his career in the NHL.
The 6-1, 190-pounder scored 18 goals as a rookie in 2005-06 and 26 goals the following season before defecting to the KHL with one year remaining on his Entry Level contract.
The degree to which these discussions between Sather and Poile have advanced is unknown, but The Post has learned this is more than the GM “kicking the tires.” The Blueshirts, of course, would have to be given a window in which to conduct contract negotiations with Radulov before agreeing to trade for his rights.
It is unlikely Poile will play hardball, given the alternative is losing him for nothing to the KHL.
That offer from CKSA, whose GM is Sergei Fedorov, adds a degree of urgency to the Blueshirts’ pursuit of Radulov, who recorded seven points (3-4) in nine-regular season games for the Predators before getting six points (1-5) in eight playoff games.
He was suspended/scratched for Games 3 and 4 of the second round against the Coyotes after having missed curfew the night before Game 2 in a rather celebrated incident.
Radulov, a creative talent who is strong on the puck and difficult to knock off it, may not fit the cookie-cutter perception of a Black-and-Blueshirt forward, but coach John Tortorella said last Monday, “You have to be really careful about ruling people out; you don’t want to box yourself in.”
Now, Sather is investigating what it would cost in terms of assets to rule Radulov in as a Blueshirt beginning next season.