JT Miller and the New York Rangers could soon be reunited with a familiar face from Vancouver's old Lotto Line.
Insider Vince Mercogliano of The Athletic reported this week that GM Chris Drury is still hunting for another forward before training camp opens in mid-September.
That search comes after a busy summer already. New York added Pavel Dorofeyev, traded for Sean Durzi and signed Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Dorofeyev alone gives the Rangers real juice. He posted 37 goals and 64 points during the regular season, then added 16 points over 22 playoff games elsewhere.
None of that fully answers the top-six question, according to Mercogliano's reporting.
Two Vancouver names keep surfacing: Brock Boeser and Jake Debrusk. Both once skated with Miller on the Canucks' Lotto Line.
Boeser posted 22 goals and 48 points this past season, though his minus-48 rating stood out for the wrong reasons on a bad Vancouver team.
Mike Sullivan has a history with target Bryan Rust
Debrusk brought his own scoring touch, finishing with 23 goals and 42 points over 81 games in Vancouver.
Pittsburgh's Bryan Rust is the other name in play. Sullivan coached him for a decade with the Penguins and reportedly considers him one of his favorite players.
Rust posted 29 goals and 65 points this past season, numbers that would fit cleanly into New York's middle six.
A cheaper fallback also exists in Frank Vatrano, who Anaheim is reportedly looking to move off its books entirely.
Vatrano's production dropped to just 9 points over 50 games this past season, exactly the kind of number that makes him available on the cheap.
The full breakdown of all three targets is worth reading directly.
New York finished last season 34-39-9 and missed the playoffs entirely, exactly the kind of result that puts real pressure on Drury to get one of these deals done.
Source: NY Rangers 'Planning To Do More' This Summer: 3 Trade Targets Up Front
Should the Rangers trade for Brock Boeser to reunite him with JT Miller?
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