New York Rangers Will Need to Part Ways with One of Their Young Stars in Patrick Kane Trade

The New York Rangers are one of the teams in the hunt for three-time Stanley Cup champion Patrick Kane. There remains more than one obstacle in a Kane deal, however, most prominently the salary cap.

The Blackhawks forward carries a $10.5 million cap hit, and the Rangers only have $1.5 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly.

Still, GMs often get creative in striking these sorts of deals, so it could certainly happen by the trade deadline on March 3rd. Possibly the bigger pill to swallow will be the cost of doing business with Chicago.

According to Darren Dreger of TSN, Chicago will look to pluck one of Alexis Lafreniere or Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers in any Patrick Kane deal.



That's a hefty price to pay, but the Rangers could be willing to foot that bill in pursuit of a Stanley Cup. Neither player has broken through the 'star' ceiling quite yet, which is no big deal really.

Both just 21 years old, there is lots of development to be had until they reach their primes. Still, drafted 1st and 2nd overall in back-to-back seasons, one has to think New York wants more out of them. Patrick Kane would certainly qualify, if that was the route GM Chris Drury opted to take.

But which one makes the most sense to move in a trade?