In case one lightning bolt wasn’t enough today with the announcement of Dan Girardi being bought out, TSN’s Bob McKenzie is saying that there has been a lot of talk about Rangers center Derek Stepan in trade chatter.
NYR centre Derek Stepan's name is fairly prominent in trade chatter. Stepan's contract has four more years with AAV of $6M.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 14, 2017
(Note: McKenzie’s initial tweet was mistaken, Stepan carries a $6.5 million cap hit through the next four seasons.)
Another layer to this story was a piece published today by TSN about the Matt Puempel signing that projected Stepan as a player the Rangers would leave exposed to Las Vegas:
A first-round pick of the Senators in 2011, Puempel owns 10 goals and five assists in 79 career games.