Rangers Respond to Tampering Rumors Hurled by Senators

Following reports that the Ottawa Senators are making some noise at the Board of Governors meetings this week for the NHL, the New York Rangers are responding to accusations they “soft tampered” Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators by leaking reports that Tkachuk might be interested in a change of scenery and that the Rangers and Sens might be talking trade.

Related: Senators and Rangers Issues Heated as ‘Soft Tampering’ Accusations Fly

While there is no proof that the Rangers did as they are being alleged to have done, this is the second time in a couple of weeks that the organization has been informally linked to a player that another team has no desire to trade — the first being J.T. Miller of the Vancouver Canucks.

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The Rangers noted in a statement responding to Senators’ owner Michael Andlauer on recent reporting that Rangers were targeting Brady Tkachuk: “This is an irresponsible accusation and we defer to the Commissioner’s office.”

In other words, the Rangers are denying having done anything remotely immoral or unethical when it comes to Tkachuk and that they will let the league handle the accusations as they aren’t going to dignify the Senators with a response.

Needless to say, this whole thing has gotten a bit ugly. The Senators are upset that their captain keeps having his name thrown out there in trade rumors, and the Rangers are denying any wrongdoing, hinting that the Senators are being irresponsible for hurling such accusations around at the Board of Governors meetings.

Could This Spill Over Onto the Ice Between the Rangers and the Senators?

Nothing is likely to come of this, other than a budding rivalry between the two clubs, which could spill over to some interesting on-ice fireworks. The management of these two teams doesn’t seem to like each other much. Will that become an issue with the players?

Next: Maple Leafs Liked Trouba: Could Revisit Trade if Ducks Eager