New York Rangers General Manager Chris Drury has made his first move in the run-up to the trade deadline, acquiring Alex Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken for a 2nd round pick in 2024 and a conditional 4th round pick in 2025. The fourth rounder can become a third round pick if Nils Lundkvist achieves the 55 points with DAL. He would need to score 24 points before the season’s end to achieve that. (This is involved in the Lundkvist to DAL trade in 2022) In addition, the Kraken will retain 50% of Wennberg’s salary. Wennberg, a left-handed center, will likely slot in on the 3rd line, adding some much-needed depth to the first-place Rangers.
Wennberg, who has an annual salary of $5 million and a cap hit of $4.5 million, has scored nine goals and 16 assists, totaling 25 points this season. He is in the final year of his contract and will become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. With the Kraken retaining half of that salary, the Rangers have about $2.9 million in cap space remaining. They are thought to be in the market for a right-wing to play on their 1st line as well.
The move, which had been rumored for the past two days, harkens back to 2022, Chris Drury’s first season as the Rangers’ General Manager, when the additions of three depth pieces fueled a run to the Eastern Conference Finals. It remains to be seen if the club is satisfied with the roster following this move or if there are more deals to come. The most prevalent rumor has the Rangers in the mix for Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel, perhaps the shiniest object of this year’s deadline.
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