New York Rangers Daily: How massive trade affects Blueshirts, Utah hits snag with ‘Yetis’ nickname
Though Friday was a day off for the New York Rangers, it didn’t mean things that could impact them stopped going on.
For instance, the Carolina Hurricanes pulled off a massive three-team trade that landed them superstar forward Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche. The mega move affects everyone in the Eastern Conference because a really good team just got better.
It says here that the Hurricanes need to address their goaltending in order to get over the hump and win a Stanley Cup — did you watch Frederik Andersen in the second round against the Rangers last spring? — but there’s no doubt Rantanen is a massive addition to the lineup. On top of being a helluva’ talented player, one who finished with more than a 100 points each of the past two seasons, the 28-year-old is a Stanley Cup champion. His addition is valuable in so many ways.
The Hurricanes also landed Taylor Hall in the trade, though he’s more of a depth middle-six forward at this point of his career. They surrendered forwards Martin Neces and Jack Drury off their roster, and wisely worked out an angle where the Chicago Blackhawks pay half of Rantanen’s salary.
The Rangers (24-20-4) are moving up the East standings, 7-0-3 in their past 10 games. Carolina was already far ahead of them, though, in the standings. This trade should solidify Carolina’s hold near the top of the Metropolitan Division. What happens in the playoffs will determine how successful this trade is for the Hurricanes, though.
Also possibly affecting the Rangers is if the Avalanche pivot and look into a J.T. Miller trade. If the Rangers are indeed still interested in re-acquiring Miller from the Vancouver Canucks, this would be some serious added competition to land the 31-year-old forward.
This trade just proves that the Rangers don’t operate in a vacuum, even on a day off. Let’s see what happens moving forward.
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