The Rangers made two trades before the roster freeze deadline.
The New York Rangers made a couple intriguing trades before the NHL’s roster freeze.
The Rangers sent restricted free agent forward Brett Howden to the Vegas Golden Knights for defenseman Nick DeSimone and a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
They also acquire the rights to restricted free agent forward Barclay Goodrow from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
A Good-row deal
Goodrow, 28, was a member of the Lightning’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championship teams. Tampa’s in an ugly cap crunch situation right now, so the Rangers were able to take advantage and trade next-to-nothing for a solid player.
Goodrow’s last contract was a two-year deal with a $925,000 cap hit.
Goodrow had 20 points in 55 regular season games for Tampa last year. Over the past two postseasons, Goodrow has three goals and nine assists in 43 games.
The Rangers will need to sign him, but Goodrow is a quality bottom-six player who brings a lot of sandpaper to the lineup.
He originally signed as an undrafted free agent with San Jose in 2014.
Moving on from Howden
In the other move of the day, the Rangers decided to move on from young center Brett Howden.
Howden, 23, signed a one-year, $885,000 contract with the Rangers on July 9. He registered seven points (one goal, six assists) in 42 games this season.
Howden was originally selected in the first round (No. 27) of the 2016 NHL Draft by Tampa. The Rangers acquired him as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to Tampa at the trade deadline in 2018.
He has scored 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 178 regular-season games and no points in three playoff games, all with the Rangers.
