Photo Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Coming off yet another memorable regular and playoff season, the New York Rangers are making the most of their time off this summer.
In the midst of the NHL regular season 2015-16 schedule debut, the Rangers have made some unexpected trades, acquired a few solid prospects, saw a heartbreaking retirement and a move that will be remembered through Rangers history.
First things first, the Rangers will kick off the season in Chicago on October 7, where they’ll face the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Chicago Blackhawks. This time around, the Rangers have seemed to regroup, which leads us to their trades and recent acquisitions.
On June 27 during the NHL Draft at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL. the team announced that they acquired Emerson Etem and a second-round pick (41st overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft from the Anaheim Ducks, in exchange for forward Carl Hagelin, a second-round pick (59th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and a sixth-round pick (179th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Mind you, Hagelin was our knight in a blue sweater that led us to a Round 1, Game 5 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden.
On the same day, we learned that Cam Talbot, who took the team extremely far during Henrik Lundqvist’s injury absence, would find himself a new home in Canada with the Edmonton Oilers. In exchange for Talbot, they received a second-round pick (57th overall), a third-round pick (79th overall), and two seventh-round pick (184th overall) and (209th overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
During the draft weekend, the team also acquired goaltender Antti Raanta from the Blackhawks in exchange for forward Ryan Haggerty.
When it came to July 1, which was deemed free agent day, the Blueshirts came to agreements with the likes of defenseman Raphael Diaz, forwards Jayson Megna, Matt Lindblad, Viktor Stalberg, Brian Gibbons, and goaltender Magnus Hellberg. That same day, Glen Sather, Rangers General Manager of 15 years, announced that he would be stepping down from his position as GM and that Jeff Gorton would take his place. Sather will remain in his club role as president.
Shortly after Martin St. Louis announced that he would not be returning to the Rangers, the heartbreaking, shocking, but expected news came out that he would be retiring and hanging up his skates after 16 incredible seasons. Though he is leaving the ice for good, he could potentially enter the NHL Hall of Fame, an honor he will have for eternity.
With the regular season quickly approaching, we’ll get to see how these trades, major moves, and career changes will affect the Blueshirts on the ice and into the playoff season.
