Compared to last season’s splash, the Rangers made more of a spritz ahead of this year’s trade deadline.
Navigating hefty asking prices left and right, president and general manager Chris Drury still managed to address all of the Rangers’ needs in some way before the clock struck 3 p.m. Friday.
In addition to making the Rangers deeper down the middle by acquiring Alex Wennberg from Seattle on Wednesday, Drury added another top right-wing option, padded his team’s defensive depth and made a minor-league swap.
“I had a lot of confidence in the group going into the deadline and they’ve given me good reason to be confident,” Drury said on a conference call Friday evening. “Our record has been pretty good, fairly consistent throughout the year. Obviously, January was a little bit up and down, but I think we fought through it and came out of the break re-energized and focused. The players themselves have given me a lot of confidence.”
The Rangers’ newest candidate to skate alongside their top-line staples of Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider is not named Jake Guentzel or Frank Vatrano, but Jack Roslovic.
Columbus shipped the 27-year-old forward to New York in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, which will become a third-rounder if the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final.
In the final season of a two-year deal with a cap hit of $4 million, Roslovic has experience playing alongside elite talent in Columbus on the right wing of the Blue Jackets’ first unit with Johnny Gaudreau and Boone Jenner.
It’s likely that Roslovic will bump Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers’ first-line and get a shot in that role.
Roslovic has been limited to just 40 games this season with the Blue Jackets after he missed 21 contests with a fractured ankle.
“I think the versatility is pretty good,” Drury said of Roslovic, who has six goals and 17 assists this season. “He’s played both wing positions, he does have some center in his history if we ever need that spot filled.”
In wake of the news that captain Jacob Trouba will be out 2-3 weeks with a lower-body injury, the Rangers brought in Chad Ruhwedel to provide a safety net on the right side of the blue line.
It only cost them a 2027 fourth-round pick and gives the Rangers some breathing room if Trouba’s absence is prolonged.
“A veteran defenseman, moves the puck well, has a lot of experience and games in the NHL,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of Ruhwedel after practice. “When you’re taking on the end of the season and what you hope to be a long playoff run, having that depth, I think, is really important. He proves that with his experience and the way he plays the game. He’s a guy who can come in and help us.”
An undrafted defenseman out of UMass Lowell, Ruhwedel is in the last season of a two-year deal that carries a cap hit of $800,000.
He has one goal and three assists in 47 games so far this season while averaging 12:32 of ice time per contest.
Ruhwedel, who was ranked seventh on the Penguins and fourth amongst defensemen in shorthanded ice time, becomes another penalty-killing option for the Rangers.
The Rangers also made a minor-league swap with the Wild, sending forward Turner Elson to Minnesota in exchange for forward Nic Petan.
Elson, who signed with the Rangers as a free agent in July 2022, never played in a game for the Blueshirts.
After joining the Rangers organization with 170 NHL games of experience over parts of nine seasons, Petan is expected to be assigned to AHL Hartford if he clears waivers.
With two assists in six games for the Wild this season, Petan has spent a majority of this season with the Wild’s AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
