New York Rangers Host Blues Following Trade Deadline

Following the trade deadline which saw the Rangers make four moves, the Blueshirts are on home ice where they welcome their new additions as they take on the St. Louis Blues (7:30PM on MSG).

Rangers	Rankings	Blues
40-18-4	Record	32-28-3
7th	League Rank	18th
8th	Goals For	26th
7th	Goals Against	18th
6th	Power play	26th
5th	Penalty Kill	17th

Rangers vs Blues

The Blueshirts were busy at the trade deadline. Between their previous game on Monday and their following game on Saturday, the Rangers made four trades total. They started off by acquiring center Alex Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick. Wennberg will take the place that was vacated by Filip Chytil early in the season.

On deadline day, the Blueshirts acquired defender Chad Ruhwedel from the Pittsburgh Penguins and forward Jack Roslovic from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Ruhwedel was acquired for a fourth-round selection whereas Roslovic was acquired for a conditional fourth-round selection. If the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup finals this season, then the Blue Jackets will receive a third-round selection. New York also made a minor league move by acquiring AHL superstar Nic Petan. Petan will help the Hartford Wolf Pack as they look to make a run for the Calder Trophy.

The Rangers needed a third-line center which they acquired in Wennberg. They also needed a right winger to play with Mika Zibanejad and they were unable to find one. The hope now is that one of their wingers will step up and take that spot whether it is Kaapo Kakko, Will Cuylle, or Roslovic. Roslovic has quietly been good as of late with 13 points in the previous twelve games for Columbus. It will be important that head coach Peter Laviolette finds the line combinations he likes as the playoffs approach.

New York will need Zibanejad to figure it out at even strength or their chances in the playoffs will be slim to none. The Swedish center is a big part of what the Rangers do and he is currently having one of his poorest seasons as a member of the Blueshirts. Powerplay opportunities are less in the playoffs and finding offense at even-strength will be vital.

Some of the names the Rangers were believed to be after included Jake Guentzel, Frank Vatrano, and Pavel Buchnevich. Ultimately, the price was more than general manager Chris Drury was willing to pay with reports that the Blues wanted two first-round draft picks for Buchnevich. Making no trade can be better than forcing a bad trade.

The Blues were quiet at the trade deadline making no moves. St. Louis finds themselves with 67 points and six points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final wild card spot. Leading the Blues in points is Robert Thomas. Thomas has 69 points in 63 games played and he is well on track to beat his career high point total in 77 points. Buchnevich currently has 48 points as he is tied for second on the team with Jordan Kyrou.

Igor Shesterkin will be back in goal for the Blueshirts. Shesterkin is 26-13-2 with a .910 save percentage.

Jacob Trouba is currently dealing with an injury and he will be out for two-to-three weeks. Braden Schneider will play with K’Andre Miller in his absence. Zac Jones or Ruhwedel will enter the lineup with the other serving as the extra defenseman. Jonny Brodzinski will likely be a healthy scratch.

Bet of the Night

The bet of the night is for the newly-acquired Roslovic to record a point. Now this is a little of an unknown given that we do not know where in the lineup Roslovic will start. The Columbus native has been hot in the last twelve games and he has the chance of playing on the top line right away. At +100 odds, a $5 bet will pay $10 for a profit of $5.

Current record: 20-18

Current Money Total (Based on $5 bets) – We are up $21.77 on the season