Rumor: Rangers “tenure as Blueshirt will be over” by Wednesday.

It seems that the New York Rangers are set to move on from a player that was once viewed as a cornerstone of their franchise. 

It is no secret that the Rangers must make moves before the start of the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season, the team is already over the salary cap ceiling of $81.5 million and must get their payroll and roster compliant by the time the season kicks off. For this reason there has been rampant trade speculation surrounding the Rangers' players, most of which has been focused on veteran Chris Kreider.

In spite of all the trade chatter surrounding Kreider however one Rangers' insider does not believe that the blue shirts have any intention of trading one of the most talented players on their roster, especially not one on a rather good deal. That being said the Rangers are projected to exceed the cap by just over $4 million in their current state and that means something has got to give. Well according to Rangers insider Larry Brooks something will in fact be giving and it sounds like we will not have to wait long to find out whether or not he is correct in his prediction. In a recent article for the New York Post Brooks revealed that he expects Kevin Shattenkirk to be off the roster in just a few short days. 

From Brooks:

The Rangers have made two trades this offseason and both were for right-hand defensemen who play the power play. So what does that tell you about Kevin Shattenkirk’s future on Broadway?

That, plus the cap fix into which management willingly leaped by signing Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba for a combined $19.654 million-plus, tells me Shattenkirk’s tenure as Blueshirt will be over by the close of the team’s second buyout window Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Although the move would not provided the Rangers much help down the road, it would give them immediate cap relief for the 2019 - 2020 NHL regular season, a move that would allow them to avoid trading a player like Kreider. Additionally there is also the matter of Shattenkirk's performance to consider, a level of performance that has dropped in staggering fashion as of late. To suggest that the 30 year old blue liner has been a shell of his former self since a 2017 training camp injury would be an understatement, and it is clear that the injury has all but completely derailed his career.

It would be a sad end to his time in New York, but it Brooks believes that is exactly what will come to pass.