The New York Rangers have finally joined in on the trade deadline fun Wednesday afternoon. After being held out of practice and two games for trade-related reasons, Alex Wennberg, who was a top target for the Blueshirts, is officially on the move.
Rangers land their 3C in Alex Wennberg
Per Emily Kaplan, the Blueshirts have finally landed their third-line center for the remainder of the season by acquiring Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken. Wennberg, 29, has had a solid season thus far. He’s only earned 25 points in 60 games played but has been playing in an alternate role all year long that doesn’t fit his play style.
The depth forward is a great two-way playmaking center. Despite being the 2C in Seattle this season, Wennberg will become a solid third-line center playing with Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko. He’s more of a passer than he is a shooter and will work nicely on both the third line and the penalty kill. The Rangers have been in need of a bottom-six center ever since Filip Chytil was ruled out for the rest of the season, and they seem to have finally found their replacement.
Per Pierre LeBrun, the return package to Seattle includes the Rangers’ 2024 second-round draft pick, as well as Dallas’ 2025 fourth-round draft pick. Included in this trade is the Kraken retaining 50% of Wennberg’s salary. It’s not a pretty deal, but given the current climate of the trade deadline atmosphere, this is likely the best deal that Chris Drury was able to pull off.