Mailbag: Rangers' trade options, DeBrincat, Malkin futures

Here is the July 6 edition of the mailbag, where we answer your questions asked on Twitter using #OvertheBoards. Tweet your questions to @drosennhl.

It's been out there that the Rangers are looking for a second-line center assuming Ryan Strome/Andrew Copp don't return. Who do you think is the most likely candidate they acquire? -- @KREIDERMAN20
I wouldn't be surprised if the New York Rangers try to acquire a new second-line center in a trade in advance of July 13, when Strome and Copp each can become an unrestricted free agent. If the Rangers haven't come to an agreement with them by the time all 32 teams gather at the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, I expect general manager Chris Drury to act quickly so New York isn't left high and dry when the market opens.
Are the Winnipeg Jets willing to trade forward Pierre-Luc Dubois or center Mark Scheifele? Dubois is a pending restricted free agent who was a teammate of Rangers forward Artemi Panarin with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Dubois, who turned 24 on June 24, likely will want a long-term contract after playing on a two-year, $10 million contract (average annual value $5 million). He'll likely command upward of $7 million annually on a new long-term deal. Scheifele has two years remaining on his contract with a $6.125 million NHL salary-cap charge. He'll be a cheaper option, but only for two seasons, after which he can become an unrestricted free agent. New York could try to get Dubois, sign him long-term and hope the contract looks like a bit of a bargain by 2024-25, when the salary cap could increase significantly. But at what cost? Would Filip Chytil go to the Jets in return? Chytil grew leaps and bounds with his play in the playoffs and could be the answer at No. 2 center if the Rangers wanted to go that route. Could Kaapo Kakko go to Winnipeg in a potential trade? I think the Rangers would be OK with that if it means getting a second-line center to play with Panarin for the next several seasons.
It's the same with Vancouver Canucks center J.T. Miller, who is one year away from unrestricted free agency. He has a $5.25 million cap charge next season, but are the Rangers willing to part with assets for one year of Miller? Can they afford to sign him to an extension when they'll also have to re-sign Chytil (if he's not traded), forward
Alexis Lafreniere
and defenseman K'Andre Miller after next season? We will know soon enough, probably sooner rather than later.

Can you explain why the Chicago Blackhawks would trade Alex DeBrincat? He seems like a player you build around? -- @punmasterrifkin
If DeBrincat were a 24-year-old center, I'd be there with you. But he's not. DeBrincat is a left wing. The Blackhawks need to rebuild down the middle, on defense and in goal. That's the bread and butter of a contending team. You have to like DeBrincat because he scores goals, 41 this season, but he's entering the final season of a three-year, $19.2 million contract ($6.4 million AAV) and could become a restricted free agent after next season. His annual salary could boom to $9 million or more with another good season. Chicago is not in position to pay a wing that much money when it may not have a center to play with him, especially if the Blackhawks aren't sold on 21-year-old Kirby Dach, the No. 3 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. We'll see about that, but the DeBrincat situation is different because of the money he will get in his next contract. Trading DeBrincat will also surely put the Blackhawks in the first round of this draft; they do not have a first-round pick but have two in the second round and three in the third round. They have two first-round picks in each of the first and second round next year and two first-round selections in 2024. If they can trade into the first round this year, they'll have 10 picks in the first two rounds of the next three drafts, which could be a huge part of their rebuild. DeBrincat might just wind up as the cost doing that kind of business. In my opinion, he wouldn't if he were a center.

Would Evgeni Malkin in Detroit make sense due to cap room? -- @hockeybrod30
It makes sense for the Detroit Red Wings; maybe not so much for Evgeni Malkin.
The Red Wings would benefit from having a player like Malkin, a three-time Stanley Cup winner. For starters, they have a hole at center that he would fill. They certainly could use more of a proven veteran presence in their forward group. He doesn't have the same burst, though a full offseason of training might bring some of that back, but Malkin, who will turn 36 on July 31, can still score. He was a point-per-game player this season, albeit playing only half the season (42 points in 41 games). I don't see Detroit going long-term, but it has the cap space to offer Malkin a sizeable dollar amount on a short-term contract, probably more than the Pittsburgh Penguins could or would offer him. Malkin would make the Red Wings better, but I don't think he makes them good enough to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs next year. And that's why Detroit might not make sense for Malkin. If he leaves Pittsburgh, he'll want to go somewhere he can win or at least to a team closer to becoming a playoff contender than Detroit. The Florida Panthers could be the sweet spot for Malkin if they can make it work cap-wise. That's a big if. I think the New Jersey Devils make sense, but they have to get a goalie. How about Malkin to the Rangers? Unlikely, but that would be intriguing.
I think a Jesse Puljujarvi for Martin Necas trade makes a lot of sense. Have you heard anything about this becoming a possibility? -- @GLaSnoST9
I have not heard that specific scenario, though some concepts with player movement will become clearer this week as we get to the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre in Montreal on Thursday and Friday. However, the trade you propose has a lot of merit when breaking it down for each player and the teams involved, albeit with one caveat, which I will get to shortly.
I heard rumblings about how the Carolina Hurricanes could be looking to trade Necas, a forward, when I was covering their Eastern Conference Second Round series against the Rangers. The 23-year-old has the physical tools (6-foot-2, 189 pounds) to become a regular top-six player in the NHL, but he regressed this season, his third full season in the NHL, and he was too quiet during the playoffs. Necas had 40 points (14 goals, 26 assists) in 78 games this season (0.51 points per game); he had 41 points (14 goals, 27 assists) in 53 games last season (0.77 points per game). In the playoffs this season, he had five assists in 14 playoff games; he had five points (two goals, three assists) in 11 playoff games last season. I don't know if he fits the style the Hurricanes play as an aggressive forechecking, possession team. He needs to play on the inside more with his body and he hasn't done that. He's a pending restricted free agent at the end of his entry-level contract. You never want to give up on young talent too early, but a change-of-scenery trade is certainly reasonable unless Carolina is willing to keep going with Necas and keep him on a two-year contract worth around $6 million. They have put a lot into his development since selecting him with the No. 12 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft.
Puljujarvi is similar in many ways as a 24-year-old pending RFA forward who has not lived up to the potential he came into the NHL with as the No. 4 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, based solely on offensive numbers. He had 36 points (14 goals, 22 assists) in 65 games this season after getting 25 points (15 goals, 10 assists) in 55 games last season. Puljujarvi played in Finland in 2019-20. He could be a better fit in Carolina with his style of play than Necas; he's more of a possession driver and a two-way forward who can play in a third-line role. If the Hurricanes don't sign Nino Niederreiter, a pending unrestricted free agent forward, is it crazy to think Puljujarvi could fill his role on a line with Jordan Staal and Jesper Fast? He could help drive that line offensively and be consistently relied on to defend against top lines too. At the same time, Necas' skillset could allow him to fit in well with the Oilers, playing with Connor McDavid and/or Leon Draisaitl, as Puljujarvi used to.
But here's the caveat: If Edmonton decides to trade Puljujarvi, will it be looking for a goalie instead of another top-six/top-nine forward? In that case, it could look straight at the Rangers to see if there is trade interest for Alexandar Georgiev, also a pending RFA who is unlikely to return to New York. Puljujarvi could be the right wing on the top line with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.