Trade Bait: Keep an eye on the Rangers GM Jeff Gorton believed to be involved in multiple discussions as he continues to rebuild the Broadway Blueshirts, TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Frank Seravalli writes.

Frank Seravalli TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Follow|Archive

VANCOUVER - What a week for the New York Rangers.

GM Jeff Gorton vaulted the Broadway Blueshirts back into the playoff picture by acquiring defenceman Jacob Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. On Friday night, the Rangers can add Finnish forward Kaapo Kakko at No. 2 overall in the NHL Draft.

Then the window opens on Sunday to potentially woo pending unrestricted free agent Artemi Panarin to the Big Apple.

That might not be all Gorton has in mind.

The Rangers are believed to be involved in multiple discussions to improve their club, with the potential to move Chris Kreider, Jimmy Vesey, Vladislav Namestnikov, Kevin Shattenkirk and/or Pavel Buchnevich over the next couple days.

Vesey would be the most likely to go, which is why he debuts at No. 7 on the latest TSN Trade Bait board.

Shattenkirk has been on the board all spring. It’s no secret the Rangers have sought a trade partner for the offensive-minded blueliner, and now are reportedly mulling over a buyout in the absence of one.

Kreider is further down the list at No. 20. He is entering the final year of his deal and much will depend on his initial salary demands and whether or not the Rangers believe they can work something out. His speed and skill would be a match for any club, or Kreider could certainly be a key cog in the Rangers’ rebuild.

For the last 18 months, it has been a rebuild on steroids for Gorton.

Since sending out a letter to season ticket holders acknowledging the rebuild and change in approach, Gorton has acquired 13 draft picks (including three additional first-rounders, three seconds and two thirds), plus high-end prospects Adam Fox and Libor Hajek, centre Ryan Strome and other prospects.

Gorton also won the No. 2 spot in this year’s draft lottery, flipped Kevin Hayes at the deadline and convinced two key Russian-born draft picks to come over to New York in forward Vitali Kravtsov and goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

Oh, and the Rangers will have nearly $20 million to spend this summer.

In other words, keep an eye on Gorton and the Rangers. They have a lot on the go.

Kreider and Vesey are two of five new names on TSN’s newest Trade Bait board. Here is the full Top 40, which always seeks to blend a player’s prominence with his likelihood of a trade:

The Top 40 Trend Player Pos Age GP G PTS Cap Hit Years 1. Nikita Zaitsev, TOR RD 27 81 3 14 $4.5M 5 2. Jason Zucker, MIN LW 27 81 21 42 $5.5M 4 3. Phil Kessel, PIT RW 31 82 27 82 $6.8M 3 4. Ryan Murray, CBJ LD 25 56 1 29 $2.85M RFA 5. Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG LW 23 62 21 37 $6M 6 6. Ryan Callahan, TBL RW 34 52 7 17 $5.8M 1 7. Jimmy Vesey, NYR LW 26 81 17 35 $2.28M 1 8. Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI LD 26 78 9 37 $4.5M 4 9. P.K. Subban, NSH RD 30 63 9 31 $9M 3 10. Canucks' 1st Round Pick 10th OV 11. Dougie Hamilton, CAR RD 26 82 18 39 $5.75M 2 12. Travis Hamonic, CGY RD 28 69 7 19 $3.86M 1 13. Connor Brown, TOR RW 25 82 8 29 $2.1M 1 14. Kyle Turris, NSH C 29 55 7 23 $6M 5 15. Michael Frolik, CGY LW 31 65 16 34 $4.3M 1 16. Colin Miller, VGK RD 26 65 3 29 $3.88M 3 17. Jesse Puljujarvi, EDM RW 21 46 4 9 $925K RFA 18. Patrick Marleau, TOR LW 39 82 16 37 $6.25M 1 19. Nazem Kadri, TOR C 28 73 16 44 $4.5M 3 20. Chris Kreider, NYR LW 28 79 28 54 $4.63M 1 21. Penguins' 1st Round Pick 21st OV 22. Mathieu Perreault, WPG LW 31 82 15 30 $4.13M 2 23. Chris Tanev, VAN RD 29 55 2 12 $4.45M 1 24. Garret Sparks, TOR G 25 20 3.15 .902 $750K 1 25. David Clarkson, VGK RW 35 0 0 LTIR $5.25M 1 26. James Reimer, FLA G 31 36 3.09 .900 $3.4M 2 27. Kevin Shattenkirk, NYR RD 30 73 2 28 $6.65M 2 28. Canes' 1st Round Pick 28th OV 29. Adam Larsson, EDM RD 26 82 3 20 $4.17M 2 30. James Neal, CGY RW 31 63 7 19 $5.75M 4 31. Milan Lucic, EDM LW 30 79 6 20 $6M 4 32. Loui Eriksson, VAN LW 33 81 11 29 $6M 3 33. Artem Anisimov, CHI C 30 78 15 37 $4.55M 2 34. Jack Johnson, PIT LD 32 82 1 13 $3.25M 4 35. Adam Henrique, ANA C 29 82 18 42 $5.83M 5 36. Victor Rask, MIN C 26 49 3 9 $4M 3 37. Mike Hoffman, FLA LW 29 82 36 70 $5.19M 1 38. Kris Letang, PIT RD 32 65 16 56 $7.25M 3 39. Artemi Panarin, CBJ RW 27 79 28 87 $6M UFA 40. Mitch Marner, TOR RW 22 82 26 94 $894K RFA

Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli​