New York Rangers right winger Vitaly Kravtsov has requested a trade from the team, as per SNY. Rangers coach Gerard Gallant offered his take on the situation in media appearance.

“He's a top nine player,” Gerard Gallant said via @SNYRangers on Twitter. “Right now he's not on our top nine, and he's not going to be a fourth line player. We link him, I like him. Gravy has come a long way this year. I'm putting my top nine forwards out there. He's not one of them right now.”

It has been a tumultuous tenure for Vitaly Kravtsov with the Rangers. He has struggled to crack the lineup this season, and has played in 28 of the Rangers 53 games this year. Some of the missed games were due to injuries, but he has not been able to consistently crack the lineup when healthy Kravtsov was selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft by the Rangers.

Kravtsov was optioned to the Hartford Wolfpack at the start of the 2021-22 NHL season, and as a response, he refused to play for the Rangers minor league affiliate. Kravtsov then spent the 2021-22 hockey season in the KHL playing for Chelyabinsk Traktor in his home country, Russia. He requested a trade from the team at that time as well, but Rangers general manager Chris Drury did not trade him.

At the end of the 2021-22 season, Chris Drury offered Kravtsov a contract and another chance with the Rangers, which he accepted. That led to where we are now.

Gallant does not see him as a player that fits in the top three lines that the Rangers have. The fourth line is seen as a line that is full of grinders, and that is not Kravtsov's style of play.

It is now up to Drury to get value for Kravtsov ahead of the March 3 trade deadline.