The New York Rangers have finally pulled the trigger on one of the many trades that they are expected to make over the next few days.
According to a breaking news report from TSN National Hockey League insider Darren Dreger the New York Rangers have dealt long time New York Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello to the Dallas Stars. It had been rumored for some time now that the Dallas Stars were heavily interested in acquiring Zuccarello and over the past several hours several insiders reported that talk surround the Rangers had intensified considerably, specifically around the aforementioned Zuccarello as well as his now former teammates in enforcer Adam McQuiad and talented center Kevin Hayes.
In fact just 30 minutes ago Sportsnet National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman reported that following a 3 - 0 shutout loss for the Stars this evening at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, the Stars were aggressively going after Zuccarello, likely in a bid to bolster their offense and as a result secure their spot in the playoffs.
As for the Rangers it appears quite clear that the plan for their organization remains to move towards a long term rebuilding process and they have seemingly accomplished that goal this evening yet again. In dealing Zuccarello to the Stars the Rangers will receive no players as compensation but instead will get a second round draft choice as well as a third round draft choice as part of this deal. According to a report from TSN NHL Insider Darren Dreger both of these picks have some conditions attached to them but we do not know the nature of those conditions at the time. Additionally we do not know the specific nature of either the second or the third round pick and in fact we do not even know in which year they will come at this current time.
If the Stars do manage to squeeze into the playoffs this will likely feel like the right move for general manager Jim Nill who has seen his team miss the post season far too many times as of late when you consider some of the talent on his roster. That being said should the Stars continue to struggle and fall out of playoff contention I can see this quickly looking like a disastrous trade from the Stars.
We will try to bring you more detail on the nature of the picks should that information come to light.
Update: Rangers retain 30% of Zuccarello's salary in this deal.
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