New York Rangers Daily: NHL Trade Deadline arrives, latest rumors, deals, including wild Mikko Rantanen doings
The New York Rangers and the other 31 NHL teams are down to the final hours of being able to reshape their current roster and/or make moves with an eye toward a better future. The trade deadline officially arrives at 3 p.m. ET on Friday.
The Rangers are navigating a difficult plan, trying to thread the needle of improving the team for this season’s playoff push, setting themselves up to be major players in free agency this coming offseason and deepening their draft capital to help build a better future.
So far, so good. Of course, the Rangers got a head start on this multiple-faceted plan, making a pair of big trades before the New Year and then their biggest trade Jan. 31, when they acquired J.T. Miller from the Vancouver Canucks. Three trades have been made in the final week ahead of the deadline, including two on Thursday.
It’s been a well-thought-out plan and execution by Chris Drury and Co. And the Rangers may not be done yet. They’ve been linked to Buffalo Sabres forward J..J. Peterka among others, and after yesterday have a glut of NHL defensemen on the roster. So, the Rangers don’t appear to be done after their latest moves.
Since the Jacob Trouba trade with the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6, the Rangers have acquired Miller, defensemen Carson Soucy, Will Borgen, Urho Vaakanainen and Calvin de Haan, center Juuso Parssinen and forward prospect Brendan Brisson, plus several draft picks, one of which was flipped to the Canucks to acquire Soucy on Thursday.
In the process, the Rangers moved out the disgruntled Trouba, a pair of former young core players in Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko, young defenseman Victor Mancini and three pending UFAs they had no plans to re-sign this summer — Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey and Reilly Smith.
They’re improving in the here and now, but most definitely with an eye on the future. Miller and Soucy each have term left on their contracts. Borgen was a pending UFA but signed a five-year contract to stay with the Rangers. Vaakanainen and Parssinen are restricted free agents at the end of the season. Only de Haan is a pending UFA.
The Rangers are also bigger and tougher today than they were a couple months ago, another priority for Drury.
Let’s see what Friday. We’ll have all the latest news and analysis right here at Forever Blueshirts.
WATCH: Marty Biron talks Rangers moves, NHL Trade Deadline and memories of being Henrik Lundqvist’s goalie partner on RINK RAP podcast
New York Rangers news
The Rangers acquired a big, physical defenseman when they landed Soucy from the Canucks.
Earlier Thursday, the Rangers traded Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights for Brisson and a third-round pick that they in turn shipped to the Canucks to land Soucy.
ICYMI: Here are our three Rangers takeaways from the 3-2 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday.
Also, we have the winners and losers breakdown from the Rangers’ OT defeat.
Rangers prospects Brody Lamb and Ty Henricks helped their respective teams capture regular-season championships in the NCAA this season.
NHL news and rumors
Late-night reports that the Carolina Hurricanes were trading Mikko Rantanen to the Dallas Stars were dispelled by Darren Dreger on Friday morning. He reported that there is no deal in place and that Rantanen has not agreed to a contract extension with the Stars, which is a must for a deal to go down. Rantanen is a pending UFA at season’s end, who already turned down contract offers from the Hurricanes.
Pierre LeBrun reports that Ryan Donato and the Chicago Blackhawks are trying to hammer out a new contract for the pending UFA. If not, he’s one of the bigger names expected to be traded Friday.
The Islanders finally pulled the trigger and traded veteran center Brock Nelson along with prospect William Dufour to the Colorado Avalanche for a package that includes prized center prospect Calum Ritchie, a first-round draft pick in either 2026 or 2027 and defenseman Oliver Kylington, who was then shipped to the Ducks for future considerations.
The Edmonton Oilers landed defenseman Jake Walman from the San Jose Sharks, notably trading away a conditional 2026 first-round pick.
Justin Brazeau was traded by the Boston Bruins to the Minnesota Wild.
Perhaps Nick Bjugstad won’t be traded before the deadline. The veteran center was placed on IR with an upper-body injury by the Utah Hockey Club.
Some brutal injury news for the St. Louis Blues, who lost defenseman Colton Parayko for at least six weeks following a procedure on his knee.
Former Rangers forward Ryan Reaves was placed on waivers by the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the trade deadline.
Victor Hedman sustained an injury that forced him out of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s game against the Buffalo Sabres. An update could come Friday.
Jake Guentzel had a hat trick and Oliver Bjorkstrad scored in his first game after arriving a trade with the Seattle Kraken to lead the Lightning to a wild 6-5 win against the Sabres.
Evan Bouchard scored in overtime to lift the Edmonton Oilers past the Montreal Canadiens 3-2. The Canadiens picked up a point in the standings and are one behind the Rangers in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Cale Makar set a Colorado Avalanche franchise record for defensemen by recording six points (two goals, four assists) in their 7-3 win over the Sharks.
The Columbus Blue Jackets failed to gain any separation as the top wild card in the East when the were shut out by the Florida Panthers 3-0.
Earlier in the day, the Panthers acquired forward Nico Sturm from the Sharks.
More good news for the Rangers in their playoff hunt, the Detroit Red Wings lost their fourth straight game, 4-2 to the Kraken.
And the Boston Bruins continue to be a big disappointment, this time losing 3-2 to the Hurricanes, when Seth Jarvis scored in the final seconds of regulation.
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