New York Rangers

Insider Believes Rangers Superstars Could Emerge in Trade Talks if Team Flops

A slow start for the Rangers could see Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere and even Igor Shesterkin come up in trade talks.

by
Jackson Weber
September 22, 2026

Much of the core of the New York Rangers’ 2023-24 roster that brought them within two wins of making the Stanley Cup Final is gone just two years later, and if they get off to a slow start in 2026-27, one insider believes more of those major changes could continue.

While it’s all dependent on how the season begins in New York, David Pagnotta expects that if things aren’t going well, names like Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere and even Igor Shesterkin could hit the trade rumor mill.

Pagnotta said:

“I am very curious to see how the first quarter of the season goes for the New York Rangers. If it goes to dog crap, I fully expect — I’m not saying it’s gonna happen, I’m just saying if this were to happen at the quarter mark — I would expect names like Adam Fox, Alexis Lafreniere, even Igor to be brought up amongst conversations around the league.

If they have a really bad first quarter of the season, then I think Drury and company, to salvage something, are going to start exploring some of those possibilities. Fox is an interesting one because he’s got his no-move, but it modifies next season. Lafreniere’s been out there for a while, and teams have had those conversations,”

The 28-year-old Fox has three years remaining on the seven-year, $66.5 million contract extension he signed with the Rangers in 2021, while Lafreniere, 24, and Shesterkin, 30, are both entering just the second year of their respective seven-year, $52.15 million and eight-year, $92.475 million contract extensions they signed to stay in New York in 2024.

GM Chris Drury has made plenty of changes to his roster over the last year, and it will be fascinating to see whether it works out and brings the Rangers back into playoff contention this season.

If not, then it sounds quite possible that the remaining core from those perennial playoff and Cup-contending teams could eventually be on their way out, too. It all shapes up to be a pivotal year in the Big Apple.

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