Revisiting the New York Rangers' in-season trades

Unlike in previous campaigns, New York Rangers general manager Chris Drury got his work done, early, moving former captain Jacob Trouba after issuing a now-infamous memo to the rest of the NHL’s front offices.

Let’s take a look at each of the Rangers' transactions since the season began.

• In: Carson Soucy, Brendan Brisson
• To Vancouver: 2025 third-round pick (via SJ) 
• To Las Vegas: Reilly Smith

(Technically these were two separate trades, but given they were intrinsically linked, we’ll lump them together for the purposes of this article)

Trading a juicy third-round pick for a player in the midst of his worst season as a pro could mean one of two things:

• Soucy is at the start of a rapid decline.
• Soucy was miscast on a wafer-thin blueline with a dysfunctional team.

Drury and the Rangers will be hoping for the latter.

At his best, Soucy is rock-solid in his own zone and blocks almost every shot he is near. He’s huge, physical and loves to lay out a hit. Just don’t ask him to handle the puck.

Could he be the ideal person to pair with the talented but dramatically undersized Zac Jones?

As a young, powerful athlete who can play down the middle or on the left, Brisson is worth a flyer for Drury.

Smith has been perfectly solid as a Ranger, but with Zibanejad’s move to right wing solidifying that side of the ice, the pending free agent became expendable.

• In: Juuso Parssinen, Calvin de Haan, second-round pick, fourth-round pick
• To Colorado: Ryan Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey, Hank Kempf

It is far too early to assess the returns on this trade for either team, so rather we'll look at the motivations.

For the Avalanche, this was about adding depth players for their playoff run who could potentially be re-signed. Job done.

For the Rangers, this trade allowed them to move on from two players who were unlikely to be with the club next season, while getting a look at a younger center and bringing in draft capital. To that end, it’s a solid trade.

• In: J.T. Miller, Erik Brannstrom, Jackson Dorrington
• To Vancouver: Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, conditional first-round pick

In grading the trade at the time, this writer may have been too negative on both sides of the coin.

While the specter of concussion hangs over Chytil, he is producing reasonably well in Vancouver. Miller, meanwhile, has transformed the Rangers. His sheer will, energy and, frankly, nastiness, has given the Rangers an edge they previously lacked. Every Ranger, notably the previously slumping Mika Zibanejad, walks taller with Miller on the ice.

Miller is on 97-point pace since rejoining the Rangers and has revitalized Zibanejad and talented youngster Will Cuylle, while simultaneously taking pressure away from the Artemi Panarin line.

This swap has proved to be a massive win for Drury.

Note: The Rangers sent Brannstrom to the Sabres in a last-minute trade-deadline deal.

• In: Will Borgen, third-round pick, sixth-round pick
• To Seattle: Kaapo Kakko

This humble correspondent was not on board with this trade when it dropped back in December but has since been proved wrong. Kakko, while not putting up points, was a part of the Rangers' best performing line and still loaded with potential.

While Kakko has found another offensive gear with the Kraken, Borgen has proved to be exactly what the Rangers needed. The physical blueliner has been a rock for New York, effectively making Lindgren expendable. He’s also scoring a point every four games, up from a point every 17 with the Kraken.

• In: Urho Vaakanainen, fourth-round pick
• To Anaheim: Jacob Trouba

Addition by subtraction.

It was clear that Trouba was a diminished on-ice product. What has since become clear is that, as captain, he was a divisive locker room figure. It took the Rangers veterans some time to shake themselves from Trouba’s influence, even after he departed.

In Vaakanainen, the Rangers got considerably younger while getting a more responsible defenseman, given Trouba’s recent penchant for drifting out of position.

That Drury was able to move on from Trouba, get better in the process and not retain salary was astounding.