Per Larry Brooks, the Rangers have shown interest in Columbus winger Dmitri Voronkov, a restricted free agent this summer. The 24 year old LW, who is a monstrous 6’5 and 227 lbs, had a career year for the Blue Jackets, breaking out with 23 goals and 47 points in 73 games, playing primarily with Kirill Marchenko and Adam Fantilli in Columbus’ top-six.
Voronkov is naturally physical given his play style, but is also a pretty solid skater with a great shot. He did shoot 14.9% last season, so expect that percentage–and possibly his goal totals–to regress a bit, but that can be offset with more TOI and shots on goal. It’s clear Voronkov has the potential to be one of the top power forwards in the game if he puts it all together.
Evolving Hockey has Dmitri Voronkov slated for a 2 year bridge deal at around $3.8 million, something the Rangers can surely afford. The kid is mostly offense right now with a shoot first mentality. His charts also show he’s likely to regress a bit from a SH% standpoint, but that’s not too much of a worry. He’s not a big passer or play creator, but he gets to the net and does the dirty work. He’s also pretty good at getting the puck out of the defensive zone, especially on dump-ins.
Brooks noted that K’Andre Miller could be used to acquire Voronkov, but also noted that Miller isn’t receiving the trade offers Chris Drury had hoped.
