Rangers had deal in place for Sharks forward ahead of trade deadline: report
According to a report out of San Jose, the New York Rangers had a trade in place to acquire a Sharks forward before the NHL trade deadline Friday. But reportedly the deal was scuttled after the Sharks agreed to retain salary when they traded Tomas Hertl to the Vegas Golden Knights.
And that Sharks player was not Anthony Duclair, the former Blueshirts forward who was traded earlier to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now reported that a deal was in place to send pending UFA Alexander Barabanov to the Rangers. Instead, the Rangers acquired Jack Roslovic from the Columbus Blue Jackets minutes before the 3 p.m. ET deadline.
“A source told San Jose Hockey Now that Barabanov was about to be dealt to the New York Rangers, before the Hertl shocker reached the finish line about 20 minutes away from the Trade Deadline,” Peng wrote.
Related: Rangers deadline was never all-in approach
Rangers reportedly had trade in place for Alexander Barabanov
NHL teams are allowed to retain salary on three players maximum. The plan, per Peng, was that the Sharks would’ve likely retained 50 percent of Barabanov’s $2.5 million salary for the rest of this season to facilitate his trade to the Rangers.
San Jose already retained salary in previous trades involving Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns. So, when the Hertl trade happened and salary was retained, that wiped out the trade with the Rangers, per Peng.
Barabanov is in the midst of a season marred by injury and subpar production. The 29-year-old right wing has 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 39 games after he scored 15 goals and 47 points in 68 games last season.
He would’ve been a buy-low option, not dissimilar to Roslovic, who had 23 points (six goals, 17 assists) in 40 games with the Blue Jackets before the trade, but scored 22 goals two seasons ago.
Roslovic seemed a nice fit playing with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider on New York’s top line in a 4-0 win against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday. He brought speed and energy, and rang a third-period shot off the crossbar.
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