PITTSBURGH — On the 20-year anniversary of the NHL Draft during which the Rangers and Flyers both made trades with Quebec for Eric Lindros, the 2012 Winter Classic opponents are once again pursuing not only the same big name forward on the market, but the same two wingers in the hours before the first-round is conducted here tonight.
For both the Rangers and Flyers are involved in discussions regarding both Columbus’ Rick Nash and Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan.
The Rangers, who are believed to have quarantined Chris Kreider, Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal and Derek Stepan (in addition to Ryan Callahan, Dan Girardi and Henrik Lundqvist) probably don’t have enough young NHL-ready talent available in order to get Ryan, the 25-year-old with three years remaining on his contract at an annual $5.1 million cap charge.
Anaheim is not believed to have interest in Brandon Dubinsky ($4.2M cap hit), who would be one of the pieces going the other way in a hypothetical deal for Nash that won’t occur unless Columbus general manager Scott Howson slashes his asking price for the 28-year-old with six years at $7.8M per season remaining on his contract.
Including Stepan in an offer for Ryan would pique the interest of Anaheim GM Bob Murray, who is seeking a second-line center behind Ryan Getzlaf. But moving Stepan would leave the Rangers with either Dubinsky or Artem Anisimov as the putative second-line pivot on the summer roster.
The Blue Jackets’ price for Nash may not match what the Nordiques were able to receive in exchange for No. 88, who was awarded to the Flyers by arbitrator Larry Bertuzzi for Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Mike Ricci, Steve Duchesne, two first-rounders and $15 million — after the Rangers had agreed to part with John Vanbiesbrouck, Alex Kovalev, Tony Amonte, Doug Weight, two first-rounders and $12M — but it’s expensive enough that the Rangers continue to dismiss it out of hand.
The Flyers are pursuing Nash, though Philadelphia is not on No. 61’s list of teams for which he would waive his no-move clause. But then, two decades ago, Lindros had said he would refuse to report to Philadelphia if traded there by the Nordiques, and he relented for reasons never explained and that are covered by a confidentiality clause in a subsequent action against agent Rick Curran.
Howson continues to deal with teams not on Nash’s list — including Ottawa — even as The Post has been told that agent Joe Resnick reiterated his client’s refusal to expand his list during a meeting with the Columbus general manager here yesterday afternoon.
The intrigue surrounding the draft, in which the Rangers hold the 28th overall pick, the Islanders the fourth overall and the Devils the 29th overall selection, centers on, a) whether Edmonton will select top-rated Russian winger Nail Yakupov (who played with Sarnia of the OHL) or go with WHL Everett defenseman Ryan Murray as the first overall pick; and b) whether highly ranked Russian center Mikhail Grigorenko (who played for Quebec of the QMJHL) might slide.
The Islanders are believed to have interest in Grigorenko and so does Toronto at No. 5, but if he somehow slides into double digits, the Rangers will investigate every option of moving up to get him, unlikely a scenario as that may be.
The Rangers — who hold picks 28, 59, 89 and 119 overall in the lottery that concludes with Rounds 2-7 tomorrow afternoon — could attempt to move up into the low 20’s if a person of interest remains available or, alternately, could seek to recover an extra selection or two in later rounds by trading down from No. 28.