NHL Rumors: New York Rangers Disgruntled Defenseman to Skip Camp

Earlier this offseason, Nils Lundkvist requested a trade from the New York Rangers. It's clear that the 22-year-old hasn't had a change of heart, as he will not report to the Blueshirts' main training camp next week, according to Vince Z. Mercogliano.

Update on Nils Lundkvist: I checked in with his agent, Claude Lemieux, who said that the 22-year-old defenseman will *not* be reporting for the #NYR's main camp next week. They've requested a trade and seem to plan on sitting tight until that happens.
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) September 16, 2022

Lundkvist is hoping for an opportunity to play bigger minutes, and that is unlikely to happen with the Rangers if they keep him around. The Rangers have a lot of depth on the back end, and there's no way that he will take one of Adam Fox or Jacob Trouba out of the top four. With that, Braden Schneider is also ahead of him on the depth chart. As a result, he wants a fresh start, and this decision to skip camp only shows this more.

Lundkvist is viewed as having top-four potential due to his offensive ability. However, that did not translate over to the NHL in his first year, as he had just one goal and four points in 25 games with the Rangers.

It will be intriguing to see if Lundkvist's decision to skip camp will lead GM Chris Drury to trade him quicker. If not, the 2018 first-round pick will be sitting out for a while.