- Larry Brooks of the New York Post suggests (subscription link) that the Rangers might want to consider trading winger Alexis Lafreniere, suggesting Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras as a possible target in a swap that wouldn’t be just one-for-one. Lafreniere got off to a solid start this season, earning himself a seven-year, $52.15MM extension in late October. However, since the contract, he has just 25 points in 48 games, numbers that are decent while he’s still on his entry-level deal but expectations will be higher moving forward. Brooks questions if the 23-year-old will be able to play to his full potential in New York, wondering if a swap of highly touted but underachieving young forwards might be the better way to go.
Rangers Rumors
Trade Deadline Primer: New York Rangers
With the 4 Nations Face-Off break approaching, the trade deadline looms large and is about a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the New York Rangers.
This Trade Deadline may not mean more for one team than for the New York Rangers. They’ve been among the most active teams this season, dealing away Jacob Trouba, Filip Chytil, and Victor Mancini in deals that landed them J.T. Miller and Urho Vaakanainen. Their early returns have proven more promising than many expected, but it hasn’t been enough to pull the Rangers up from their slide down the standings. They enter mid-February in firm competition for the Eastern Conference wild cards with four other teams. The Rangers have scored the second-most and allowed the 10th-most goals in the league since the start of January and could be poised to lean into their inconsistent year with an overhaul at the deadline.
Record
27-24-4, 5th in the Metropolitan Division
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$16.48MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention spots used, 47/50 contract spots used, per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2025: SEA 3rd, ANA 4th, MIN 5th, SEA 6th, NYR 6th, NYR 7th
2026: NYR 1st, NYR 3rd, NYR 5th, NYR 6th, VAN 7th
Trade Chips
A deadline with such high stakes will inevitably force the Rangers to make some more tough decisions. Many of their core veterans have looked out of touch with their prime or out of sync with each other for nearly the entire season. That precedent is head-manned by former 50-goal scorer Chris Kreider, who entered the year on the heels of three dazzling seasons. Kreider scored 52 goals and 77 points in 81 games of the 2021-22 season and succeeded with 36 and 39 goals in the following two years. After nine years of finding his footing at the top flight, Kreider seemed to finally be blossoming into the routinely great goal-scorer he showed the potential to be. But that flame has fizzled out, and Kreider stands with just 16 goals and four assists through 47 games this season – an 82-game pace of 28 goals and 35 points. That monotonous scoring will put him at the top of the list as New York looks like a place where they may be able to bolster their lineup.
Close behind Kreider will be longtime linemate Mika Zibanejad, who’s also struggled to find ground all season. Zibanejad has a commendable 11 goals and
37 points in 55 games on the year, but his stat line is marred by a -24 – and his ice time has fluctuated between as little as 13 minutes and as much as 24 minutes through points this season. He’s been hard to trust and endured an eight-game scoring drought through December. Zibanejad likely holds the upper hand over Kreider when it comes to New York’s chopping block, given his boost in scoring and 53.1 faceoff percentage. However, questions emerging on year three of his eight-year, $68MM contract could be enough to send Zibanejad – and his $8.5MM annual cap hit – packing for the right return. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta has reported multiple times that Zibanejad is willing to waive his no-move clause for the “right situation.”
New York faces a similar competition on their blue line as well, where both Ryan Lindgren and K’Andre Miller have failed to inspire much of anything. The duo has 15 points in 50 games and 13 points in 49 games, respectively, and each boasts negative plus-minuses. Lindgren has served as the handcuff to Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox through parts of the last three seasons, while Miller has gained a boost in minutes in the wake of Trouba’s departure. Both players fill a strong role, but neither has found the offense needed to support one of the NHL’s lowest-scoring blue lines. Rangers defenders have combined for just 18 points on the year. That’s fewer goals than Cale Makar (22), and one higher than Zach Werenski (17), have managed on their own this season.
The Rangers still stand in an advantageous position with any looming moves. While Kreider has had a down year, his scoring precedent and 862 career games will still command a high price. The cost will be even more to afford one of Zibanejad, Miller, or Lindgren – who each fill roles that will need to be immediately replaced should the Rangers want to stay competitive. That sets New York up for a potentially lucrative swap of roster players that are bolstered by their lack of any retained contracts.
Team Needs
1) Offensive Defensemen: Acquiring another scoring defenseman will be about more than improving their blue line’s collective goals. New York superstar
Fox scored a career-high 17 goals last season, bolstered by each of Erik Gustafsson, Miller, and Braden Schneider contributing their own handful (eight, six, and five respectively). But with no downhill jump behind him this year, Fox has fallen to just four goals in 40 games. He’s maintained the year with a dazzling 40 assists – fifth-most among NHL defenders – but Fox is still set to snap his three-year streak of 70-point seasons when this year ends.
He needs another creator to help lift the defense-first Rangers, which could point the team toward Chicago Blackhawks defender Seth Jones. Jones and his lofty contract have been on and off the trade block over the last few seasons – but his lack of belonging in Chicago has become glaring this year. He leads the Blackhawks blue-line with 26 points in 38 games and leads the lineup with an average of 24:38 in ice time. Those marks will leave a humongous hole in Chicago’s lineup should Jones get moved, but the right price could land the all-offense, no-defense defender on a playoff contender.
Should New York prefer a hardier future bet, with a cheaper price tag than Jones’ $9.5MM cap hit, they could also turn towards recent Buffalo Sabres acquisition Bowen Byram. It’s hard to think Buffalo moves Byram without a substantial return, rooted in plenty of future capital. That could be a tough price for New York’s desolate prospect pool, but the return would be an all-out scorer capable of playing top-pair minutes. Byram has 29 points in 54 games this season and averages 23 minutes of ice time each game. He’s already been moved once and would become the second-youngest defenseman on New York’s blue line with a move. That could be the exact kind of lucrative bet the Rangers need to pull back into serious playoff contention.
2) Wing Depth: If not a defender, the Rangers need to use this Deadline to figure out their flanks. Their wingers have been incredibly inconsistent this year. Aside from Artemi Panarin – who leads the team with 57 points in 53 games – the Rangers’ most reliable winger has arguably been William Cuylle, who’s scored a career-high 29 points in 55 games from the team’s third line. Cuylle sits just three points behind former first-overall pick Alexis Lafreniere in scoring, and ahead of both Kreider and summer addition Reilly Smith. With the latter three all losing ground this season, the Rangers desperately need someone to right the ship in their top six.
That could make them a golden landing spot for red-hot Pittsburgh Penguins winger Rickard Rakell, who’s managed 25 goals and 45 points in just 56 games this year. That’s already 11 more points than Rakell managed last season, but still 21 shy of his 69-point career-high from 2017-18. He’s been a routine goal threat, capable of maintaining his scoring through changing lineup roles and mid-season trades. Rakell’s hot year will likely demand a package beginning with a first-round pick. That’ll be a tough pill to swallow for the Rangers, but they’re falling in the playoff race to the Columbus Blue Jackets – and a lofty trade could be exactly what’s needed to spark a slouching lineup.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Examining The Rangers’ Potential Trade Candidates
Arthur Staple and Peter Baugh of The Athletic believe that the New York Rangers could potentially net a substantial trade package at this year’s NHL Trade Deadline should they move pending free-agent defenseman Ryan Lindgren. Rangers’ general manager Chris Drury has been remaking the Rangers on the fly for the past few months and likely isn’t done as we approach the deadline.
Lindgren turns 27 today and has endured a difficult season that began when he broke his jaw in the preseason, causing him to miss the first five games of the regular season. He’s been more of an offensive contributor this year but has been uncharacteristically careless with the puck, turning it over 53 times in just 50 games. Lindgren signed a one-year $4.5MM extension last summer, and it appears as though he will test the free-agent market. Despite the uneven year, Staple and Baugh believe that Lindgren will still be a valuable asset if the Rangers opt to sell in a few weeks. It’s hard to disagree, given that it appears to be a seller’s market, as both the Penguins and Sharks have been able to acquire first-round picks in trade packages involving defensemen.
Lindgren is not the only player the Rangers could move to acquire future assets. Reilly Smith and Jimmy Vesey are two other names that Staple and Baugh mention.
Smith would be looking at his third trade in two years if he is moved again, but with an expiring contract and a track record of decent depth scoring, there is a belief that he could nab the Rangers a mid-round pick. He has struggled to recapture his scoring touch since winning the Stanley Cup with Vegas back in 2023. This season, the 33-year-old has ten goals and 16 assists in 54 games.
Vesey, on the other hand, has publicly stated his desire to play more, so he would certainly welcome a move to a different organization. The 33-year-old is coming off back-to-back 25+ point seasons but has struggled to get anything going offensively this year, tallying just three goals and an assist in 30 games. Vesey could be another candidate to net the Rangers a mid-round draft pick.
When the Rangers return to action after the break, they will have seven games to decide on a direction heading into the NHL Trade Deadline, and given the way their campaign has unfolded, it’s fair to wonder what other headlines the team will make this season.
Minor Transactions: 2/9/25
The league will continue to see many AHL demotions today after all but four teams wrapped up their pre-4 Nations Face-Off break schedule on Saturday. We’ve already seen a few this morning, namely in Pittsburgh and Boston, and we will continue to track the rest in this article as fringe players head to the minors to get playing time over the next few weeks.
- The Predators announced they’ve reassigned wingers Joakim Kemell, Ozzy Wiesblatt, and defenseman Kevin Gravel to AHL Milwaukee. They now have three open roster spots, two of which could go to IR-bound Mark Jankowski and Jeremy Lauzon in the likely event they’re ready to return from injury when their schedule resumes on Feb. 22. The most notable of the trio is Kemell, who made his NHL debut across Nashville’s Friday-Saturday back-to-back and managed eight shots on goal across the pair of games. However, he’s still looking for his first NHL point. The 2022 first-rounder has 9-16–25 in 38 AHL contests this season.
- Wild winger Liam Ohgren will return to AHL Iowa over the break, per a team announcement. The fellow 2022 first-rounder has bounced between Minnesota and Iowa this year but spent the past couple of weeks filling in the Wild’s top six with Marcus Johansson and Kirill Kaprizov missing time. It hasn’t been an overly productive first look in the NHL for the Swedish winger, who’s managed 2-4–6 in 23 appearances since debuting late last season. He’ll likely be back up after the break, with Kaprizov still set to miss another couple of weeks following lower-body surgery.
- The Sharks reassigned forwards Collin Graf and Andrew Poturalski and defenseman Jack Thompson to AHL San Jose, the club said. Their post-break returns likely depend on the health of Nikolai Kovalenko, Jan Rutta, and Nico Sturm, all of whom enter the break on injured reserve with day-to-day designations. If all three are ready to return, the Sharks will need those roster spots to activate them, as they were carrying a full roster before this morning’s moves.
- The Blues sent forward Zachary Bolduc down to AHL Springfield this morning. It’s just the second time this season he’s been assigned to Springfield, and the first was a one-day demotion before opening night to help St. Louis optimize their LTIR capture. The 21-year-old has 6-12–18 through 46 games and will return to the NHL following the break. In the meantime, the 2021 first-round pick will continue to get reps in Springfield amid a promising sophomore campaign in the majors with good possession numbers.
- Blackhawks rookie defenseman Ethan Del Mastro is back down with AHL Rockford, Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The 22-year-old lefty has one assist and 13 hits in six games since being recalled on Jan. 23. His 52.0 CF% at even strength is far above team average and is a promising sign for the 2021 fourth-rounder’s prospects at making the opening night roster next year. The 6’4″, 210-lb active defender has eight assists in 38 showings with Rockford this year, along with a plus-four rating.
- The Rangers returned goaltender Dylan Garand to AHL Hartford after his services were needed to backup Jonathan Quick in last night’s 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets. The 22-year-old will only be back up after the break if Igor Shesterkin, who missed the game due to an upper-body injury, isn’t cleared to return. The 2020 fourth-rounder is coming off an appearance in the AHL All-Star Classic and has a 2.68 GAA, .913 SV%, three shutouts, and a 12-7-4 record in 23 showings for Hartford.
- The Utah Hockey Club has assigned Josh Doan to the minor-leagues per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports. This move is likely intended to keep Doan on the ice while the club prepares for their two-week break. Doan has been in the NHL roster routinely since January 10th. He has five points in 15 games in that span, including two in his last two games. He’s been highly impactful even despite modest scoring totals, and should get a chance to continue carving out a role when Utah returns on February 22nd.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Rangers Recall Dylan Garand, Igor Shesterkin Out With Upper-Body Injury
If there was ever going to be an injury to a starting netminder, it arguably happened at the best possible time for the New York Rangers. Arthur Staple of The Athletic reported that Igor Shesterkin is expected to miss the next week or two with an upper-body injury suffered in last night’s contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
According to a team announcement, New York has recalled netminder Dylan Garand from the Hartford Wolf Pack, their AHL affiliate. Given that the Rangers had one open roster spot remaining, they didn’t need to make a corresponding transaction or place Shesterkin on injured reserve.
Aside from a game this evening against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Rangers don’t play again until February 22nd due to the 4 Nations Face-Off. The two-week break should give Shesterkin ample time to recover potentially only missing tonight’s game.
The upper-body injury reportedly relates to a scramble in front of Shesterkin during the second period of last night’s game. He tested his right wrist for flexibility but remained in the crease throughout the game, ultimately suffering another loss this season.
Those losses have recently become commonplace for Shesterkin. The 2021-22 Vezina Trophy winner is 1-4-0 in his last five starts with a .835 save percentage. Given that he hasn’t had more than two games in a row with a save percentage lower than .900, it’s his worst stretch of the season.
New York is likely hoping the 4 Nations Face-Off break will give Shesterkin the time he needs to fully recover and get his mind right for the remaining 27 games of the regular season. The Rangers’ success this season has typically started and ended with their goaltending.
Garand has received his second call-up of the 2024-25 season, although he has yet to debut in the NHL. The 22-year-old, a product of the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers program, is having the best professional season of his brief career. Garand has managed a 12-7-4 record in 23 games with a .913 SV% and 2.68 goals-against average including three shutouts this season.
Rangers’ Adam Edstrom Out Roughly Three Months With Lower-Body Injury
Rangers depth winger Adam Edstrom will be unavailable for the next two and a half to three and a half months while recovering from a lower-body injury, the team told Mollie Walker of the New York Post on Tuesday. It’s likely a season-ending absence for Edstrom, although a return during the postseason is possible if the Blueshirts make the cut.
Edstrom already missed Sunday’s win over the Golden Knights with the injury, which he sustained at some point in Saturday’s loss to the Bruins. He left midway through the second period after recording a minus-one rating, one hit, and one giveaway in 4:22 of ice time.
The 24-year-old has established himself as a regular on the Rangers’ fourth line this season, playing in all but one of their 52 games. He hasn’t been a factor offensively with four goals and nine points and averages just 9:16 per game, but the hulking 6’6″, 241-lb winger ranks fourth on the team with 11.92 hits per 60 minutes and ranks second among Rangers forwards with 34 blocks.
His willingness to get involved physically has contributed to good two-way results from the Rangers’ most common iteration of their fourth line this season. In 166 minutes together, the trio of Edstrom, Sam Carrick and Jimmy Vesey have controlled 52.3% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. Their 2.27 xGA/60 is 0.03 short of being the Rangers’ best defensive trio with at least 150 minutes together this season.
His limited minutes mean he’s not a season-altering loss, but he does leave a sizable void in the bottom six. His absence allows Vesey to step back into regular minutes after being scratched for 10 of their last 12 games, prompting the veteran to publicly voice his displeasure with his lack of playing time.
Edstrom is in the final season of his entry-level contract and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. He’s due a qualifying offer of $813,750, although with his everyday role and an increasing salary cap, he has an argument to earn north of $1MM annually on his next deal.
Team Finland Adds Henri Jokiharju, Urho Vaakanainen To 4-Nations Roster
Team Finland has added Buffalo Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju and New York Rangers defenseman Urho Vaakanainen to their 4-Nations Face-Off roster. The duo will fill in after Miro Heiskanen and Jani Hakanpaa each suffered injuries that will hold them out through February. They will join Esa Lindell (Dallas), Olli Maatta (Utah), Niko Mikkola (Florida), Rasmus Ristolainen (Philadelphia), and Juuso Valimaki (Utah) on Finland’s blue line.
Finland was down to the wire in finding replacements for their pair of injuries. There are only 11 active Finnish defensemen in the NHL. With this news, Team Finland has already invited nine of those names to the tournament – leaving Ville Heinola (Winnipeg) and Nikolas Matinpalo (Ottawa) as the only two to not receive a call from team general manager Jere Lehtinen. Heinola and Matinpalo are the only active Finns to play in the AHL this season, excluding Hakanpaa’s pair of minor league outings during a conditioning stint.
While their output pales in comparison to who they’re replacing, Finland will get a nice match of styles in Jokiharju and Vaakanainen. The former has been an aggressive two-way defenseman for the Sabres this season. He only has four points through 36 games this season, but has posted a +6 – just the second positive plus-minus of his seven-year NHL career. He posted his first, a +14, through 74 games last season – and coupled it with a career-high 20 points. Jokiharju is working to rediscover those numbers this season, but nonetheless brings stout neutral zone control to the Finnish lineup. While he controls north of the blue line, Vaakanainen will be tasked with filling Hakanpaa’s stout defensive role. Vaakanainen began this season with the Anaheim Ducks but joined the Rangers after just five games, as part of the deal that sent Jacob Trouba to the west coast. Vaakanainen has since stepped into 21 games with New York, filling a bottom pair role and recording five assists, 10 penalty minutes, and a +2. He’s also been a quietly impactful defender in New York state, bringing physicality and size to a Rangers blue line in need of both. He’ll bring the same attributes to the 4-Nations tournament, and hopefully blend with Jokiharju well enough to somewhat match the top-tier impact lost by Heiskanen’s injury.
Metropolitan Notes: Haula, Malkin, Duclair, Edstrom, Stillman
It has been one of the busiest weeks of the season for the Metropolitan Division. Five of the division’s eight teams have made trades in the last few weeks, and all eight clubs are dealing with multiple injuries. That’s sparked plenty of news and updates – starting with the New Jersey Devils, who plan to bring centerman Erik Haula on their upcoming two-game road trip despite already ruling him out for Sunday’s game against Buffalo, per team reporter Amanda Stein. Stein added that Haula will practice with the team on the road trip and be questionable for Tuesday’s game against Pittsburgh. Haula suffered an ankle injury on January 5th and has been out of action ever since. He’s missed 11 games and was placed on injured reserve on January 17th. He resumed skating four days later and was upgraded to out day-to-day on January 29th.
Haula is now one step closer to returning. Having already been ruled out of Sunday’s game, he’ll have three more opportunities to get back into the lineup before the team goes on a two-week break for the 4-Nations Face-Off. Whether or not he’ll be able to return before that break will be notable, as Haula has been selected to represent Team Finland at the tournament. He has so far made no indication that he won’t be able to play – but the thought of his absence will weigh on a Finnish club that recently lost top defenseman Miro Heiskanen for the tourney. Haula is in the midst of a down year, with just 11 points in 42 games – his lowest scoring pace since the 2016-17 season. But he’ll still be an important addition to the Finns’ lineup should he return back to full health, likely to slot in as a middle-six winger with Sebastian Aho, Roope Hintz, Aleksander Barkov, and Anton Lundell manning the middle lane.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are gearing up for an even more notable return, after franchise legend Evgeni Malkin has returned to practice in a non-contact jersey on Saturday, per Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Malkin has missed Pittsburgh’s last four games and is still expected to miss a few more with a lower-body injury. He will be hard-pressed to return before Pittsburgh’s 4-Nations break begins on February 8th. The Penguins have lost two of the games that Malkin has missed. They were outscored 9-2 in the pair of outings. With that in mind, Pittsburgh will hope their future Hall-of-Fame Russian can get back to full health ASAP – and get back to building on the 34 points he’s scored in 47 games this season. Malkin continues to play a pivotal role on the team’s second line, averaging north of 18 minutes of ice time this season.
While New Jersey and Pittsburgh gear up for returns, the Islanders will have yet another lineup vacancy to fill, with winger Anthony Duclair set to miss Saturday’s game due to illness, per Andrew Gross of Newsday Sports. Duclair missed over two months of action earlier in the year, sitting out from October 20th to December 21st with a lower-body injury. He scored three points in his first three games back, but has been ice cold ever since – with just two points in his last 14 games. Duclair has held onto top-nine ice time despite the scoring drought, giving the Islanders a hardy role to fill as he misses yet another game. Marc Gatcomb has returned to the lineup to fill the vacancy, earning another chance to find scoring after playing in his first seven NHL games, and scoring his first goal, earlier this season. Gatcomb will fill a fourth-line role, while Simon Holmstrom has been promoted into the top-nine.
Joining the list of Metropolitan absentees is New York Rangers forward Adam Edstrom, who suffered an apparent injury in the team’s Saturday loss to the Boston Bruins. No specifics of Edstrom’s injury or timeline have been revealed. It’s terrible timing for the towering forward, who’s scored two points and seen a boost in ice time over his last five games. His absence will force the Rangers to fill a hole on their fourth line, likely opening the door for Arthur Kaliyev, Jimmy Vesey, or top prospect Brennan Othmann to earn a spot start. Vesey notably voiced concerns over his ice time recently – and could now have a golden chance to prove he can make a lasting impact with minimal minutes.
Closing out the littany of Metro updates – the Carolina Hurricanes have reassigned depth defenseman Riley Stillman back to the minor leagues. Stillman was recalled for his season debut on Friday. He played in just under eight minutes of ice time and recorded one shot and two hits. He’ll now return to the minor leagues, where he’s scored two goals and five points through 15 games.
Rangers Acquire J.T. Miller From Canucks
Trade discussions between the Rangers and Canucks regarding J.T. Miller have been off and on in recent weeks but a deal is now complete. Per announcements from both teams, New York has acquired Miller along with defensemen Erik Brannstrom and Jackson Dorrington from Vancouver in exchange for center Filip Chytil, defenseman Victor Mancini, and a protected 2025 first-round pick. The pick is protected in the top-13 this year and if it doesn’t convey this year, the Canucks will instead receive New York’s unprotected 2026 first-rounder. Structuring the pick like that will encumber the Rangers from moving that 2026 selection in another trade later on.
Miller waived his no-move protection to facilitate the swap, ending what had been a rocky last several weeks for the 31-year-old. There has been speculation of an internal rift between Miller and center Elias Pettersson, something that team president Jim Rutherford confirmed earlier this week. As a result, Vancouver has been engaging in trade discussions involving both players for quite some time now.
Miller returns to his first NHL team with the Rangers having drafted him 15th overall back in 2011. He spent parts of six seasons with them, recording 172 points in 341 games before being moved to Tampa Bay in 2018. He spent parts of two years with them before Vancouver acquired Miller in the 2019 offseason and since then, his career has taken off.
After only recording more than 60 points just once in his career before joining Vancouver, Miller surpassed the point per game mark in four of his first five seasons with them; the only time he didn’t reach at least 70 points was the shortened 2020-21 campaign. Along the way, he signed a seven-year, $56MM contract that runs through the 2029-30 campaign, meaning New York will be adding another pricey contract to their books with an $8MM AAV; Daily Faceoff’s Seravalli reports (Twitter link) that Vancouver is not retaining salary on Miller’s contract.
But things haven’t gone quite so well for Miller this season. His offensive numbers – though still respectable – are down as he has nine goals and 26 assists in 40 games so far. He has just three tallies in his last 24 outings, however, and two of those came in one game. That drop in performance certainly didn’t help his trade value which likely contributed to the delay in getting this done.
Even with the drop-off in performance this year, Miller will still represent a sizable upgrade on Chytil in terms of role and production. He’ll give them a third veteran presence down the middle behind Mika Zibanejad, a duo that will be around for a while as Zibanejad is also inked through the 2029-30 campaign. Vincent Trocheck is also in the mix, signed through the 2028-29 season so they now have plenty of stability at that position for the foreseeable future.
As for the other pieces heading to New York, Brannstrom was once a highly-touted prospect after being a first-round pick for Vegas back in 2017. However, his offensive game – his calling card growing up – hasn’t quite materialized in the pros and he has bounced around since then; this will be his third team of the season after spending training camp with Colorado before being moved to Vancouver. Brannstrom has eight points in 28 NHL games this year but cleared waivers earlier this month and had been with AHL Abbotsford before the swap. The 25-year-old has a $900K cap hit (which wouldn’t count against the cap if he remains in the minors for New York) and will be a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights this summer.
Dorrington, meanwhile, was a sixth-round pick by Vancouver in 2022, going 176th overall. He has spent the past three seasons at Northeastern University and has 10 points in 23 games for the Huskies in 2024-25. Dorrington will have one year of college eligibility remaining after this season so he could be a near-term addition to New York’s farm system.
Chytil is the headliner of the swap for the Canucks in terms of the players they’re getting back. The 25-year-old was originally expected to be part of New York’s long-term plans down the middle after they made him the 21st pick in 2017. However, Chytil has dealt with considerable concussion issues throughout his career which has caused him to miss significant time, including 72 games just last season.
However, Chytil isn’t too far removed from his best offensive season when he collected 22 goals and 23 assists in 72 games back in 2022-23, solid second-line production. He’s not too far off that pace this year either as he has 11 goals and nine helpers through 41 appearances. He’s averaging less than 15 minutes a game this season but if he lands on the second line behind Pettersson, it’s possible that Chytil could be in line for a bit of a bigger role with his new team. For his career, he has 164 points in 378 games.
Vancouver will be taking on a multi-year commitment with Chytil as well although he isn’t signed quite as long as Miller. He has a $4.4375MM cap charge on his contract through the 2026-27 season and will be an unrestricted free agent at its expiration. Accordingly, a big portion of this trade for the Canucks will be some increased salary cap flexibility moving forward.
As for Mancini, the 22-year-old is in the first season of his entry-level contract after wrapping up his college career last season. He has played in 15 games with the Rangers this year, picking up a goal and four assists in a little over 15 minutes a night before being sent back to AHL Hartford last month to get more playing time. In 23 games with the Wolf Pack, he has three goals and seven assists. If he isn’t recalled directly to Vancouver, Mancini stands to be one of their top recall options whenever injuries arise.
From a salary cap perspective, the Rangers still have ample cap space to work with as PuckPedia puts them with a little over $3.5MM in projected cap room thanks to their early-season trade of Jacob Trouba. Meanwhile, PuckPedia pegs Vancouver with a little less than $2.7MM in space which gives them some breathing room to try to bank some extra flexibility between now and the trade deadline to try to add to their roster and turn around their recent struggles.
For the production and role that Miller has had for most of his time with Vancouver, this return is on the low side but the internal rift clearly became too much, resulting in the Canucks taking a below-market return. Nonetheless, if Chytil can do well with his new team and the Canucks properly use their extra draft, prospect, and cap capital, they could still come out of this in decent shape.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported that talks between the two sides about Miller were intensifying and was first with Brannstrom and Dorrington’s inclusions. TSN’s Farhan Lalji originally reported Chytil being in the swap. Larry Brooks of the New York Post was first with the details on the pick protection.
Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.
Rangers’ Jimmy Vesey Unhappy With Lack Of Playing Time
Rangers winger Jimmy Vesey has spent most of his time in the press box as of late after missing only three regular-season games for New York over the prior two seasons. The 31-year-old winger was candid with Larry Brooks of the New York Post (subscription required) on Thursday, telling him he “feels like I have no role or purpose on this team.”
“It seems that I have fallen out of favor and have just been cast aside over an extended period of time,” Vesey told Brooks. “I’m kind of dying by being here.”
Vesey is one of many Rangers veterans to see time in the press box this season amid difficult campaigns. He’s no longer a factor on the team’s penalty kill, due in part to starting the season on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body issue, and is thus averaging a career-low 10:04 per game when dressed. He hasn’t played in back-to-back games since the first week of January and last entered the lineup on Jan. 11 against the Golden Knights.
In 26 appearances this season between injuries and scratches, Vesey has three goals and an assist with a minus-two rating. He’s lost the physical edge that made him an effective bottom-six checker over the past few seasons, only recording 14 hits after averaging well over a hit per game between 2021-22 and 2023-24. His possession numbers have been middle of the pack on a Rangers team that struggles to control play at even strength, posting a 47.4 CF% and a -0.8 expected rating that actually ranks eighth among New York skaters with at least 10 games played.
The Blueshirts just haven’t clicked offensively with Vesey on the ice, though, making other options with comparable defensive metrics like Jonny Brodzinski and Arthur Kaliyev more preferred options in the lineup for head coach Peter Laviolette. The Rangers have scored just 1.6 goals per 60 minutes with Vesey on the ice at even strength, the worst such figure on the club.
But the lack of playing time isn’t helping the pending UFA’s confidence. He told Brooks that he’s had disagreements with Laviolette about how his extended run as a healthy scratch is affecting the likelihood of him landing a contract elsewhere on the open market this summer. “It’s the anxiety of not having a contract and feeling like this might be the end. [Laviolette] doesn’t necessarily agree with that.”
Vesey declined to say whether he’s submitted a trade or waivers request to general manager Chris Drury, saying that he loves being a Ranger “but I know I’m unhappy and don’t see this changing. I know I have value to teams in this league, I know I could help teams.”
The Rangers wouldn’t have any trouble moving Vesey, who’s in the back half of a two-year, $1.6MM deal with an $800K cap hit that could easily be waived and buried in the minors if he doesn’t work out with a new club. He’s coming off back-to-back seasons of significant PK usage with 10-plus goals, which is sure to draw intrigue from other teams with no financial downside.