Jan 27, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; Minnesota Wild right wing Darroll Powe (14) takes a shot against the St. Louis Blues during the first period at the Scottrade Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

In some surprising news today, the Rangers have dealt Mike Rupp to the Minnesota Wild for forwards Darroll Powe and Nick Palmieri. Palmieri will be sent to the Whale immediately.

Then the Rangers also called up 2011 first round pick J.T. Miller and Brandon Mashinter from the CT Whale.

Benn Ferriero has been sent down to the Whale. Interesting that he’s been sent down as I thought he’s been playing well.

The Rangers right now have 12 healthy any forwards, and it would appear the days of Stu Bickel playing forward are over. What a relief that is.

JT Miller’s call up is likely an experiment to see how he matches up against the big boys of the NHL. I don’t think Torts would call him up just to play him five minutes a night. That would be absurd. The team will want to see Miller get his feet wet with the NHL and then take it from there. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him play a few games and then be sent down either.

We’ll have more news regarding lineups and such after tomorrow’s morning skate. Be sure to check out my pre-game and five questions before the game.

Feb 10, 2012; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Benn Ferriero (78) skates with the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks during the third period at HP Pavilion. San Jose defeated Chicago 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-USA TODAY Sports

The Rangers have traded the Connecticut Whale’s leading scorer to the Penguins for Benn Ferriero.

I think it’s pretty clear why the Rangers made this move. The team is looking to shore up their bottom six and Ferriero does exactly that. He’s a definite upgrade over Mike Rupp and Arron Asham.

Ferriero is 25 years old and has92 games of NHL experience under his belt so he’s not exactly a slouch at the NHL level.

I’ve watched Ferriero play a few times for the San Jose Sharks when he played out there, and I thought he was a good energy guy for them. Hopefully he can bring something similar to the Rangers.

He also has a playoff overtime goal to his credit:

We’ll have more details on this trade later. Be sure to check out my Rangers-Flyers pre-game 5 questions before the game tonight.

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