New York Rangers Daily Dose: NHL Draft Day Two

After an eerily quiet Round One for the New York Rangers in the 2015 NHL Draft, general manager Glen Sather had a field day wheeling and dealing on Day Two.

Here’s what went down:

The Rangers started off with picks 59, 89, 119, 179 and 209.

Right off the bat, it looked like a deal with the Edmonton Oilers was finally going to happen as Sather was seen talking to their GM, Peter Chiarelli.

Then, PLOT TWIST: Sather immediately struck up a conversation with the Anaheim Ducks. It wasn’t much longer until the first Rangers trade dropped. But it wasn’t about Cam Talbot as everyone had thought. It was about Carl Hagelin.

The Rangers dealt Hagelin and the 59th and 179th picks for Anaheim’s Emerson Etem and the 41st pick.

We knew there was the possibility that Hags would be dealt. As a restricted free agent, Hags would have asked for a new contract worth over $3 or 4 million per year. However, the Rangers were strapped for cash under the salary cap, and they had to move someone.

New York Rangers

Hags just ended up being the odd man out and suddenly the Swedish Flow was on his way to Anaheim. It’s heartbreaking, but Etem is expected to do great things in New York. Once we see how well he fits in with the rest of the Rangers, maybe the heart ache from the Hags trade won’t sting as bad as it does right now.

Using the 41st pick, the New York Rangers acquired Ryan Gropp. To learn a little bit more about the power forward, click here.

Next, more big news ensued as THE Talbot trade was settled at last. Talbot and the 209th pick went to the Oilers in exchange for picks 57, 79 and 184. Sather then took the deal one step further by trading the 57th pick for the Washington Capitals‘ 62nd and 113th picks.

After all was said and done, Sather was able to get RW Robin Kovacs (62nd), D Sergey Zobrovskiy (79th), C Brad Morrison (113th) and G Adam Huska (184th) for the Goal Buster. As a big Talbot fan, I felt this was a good move by Sather. Talbs was worth a lot and most of the prospects acquired in the trade appear promising.

Other prospects that the Rangers drafted were C Aleksi Saarela (89th) and LW/RW Daniel Bernhardt (119th).  There’s more to come on all of the prospects here on Blue Line Station.

More from Draft

• Rangers Final Pick of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft is Ty Henricks
• Rangers take Dylan Roobroeck in Round 6 at 178 Overall
• Rangers Draft Defenseman Rasmus Larsson 152 Overall
• New York Rangers trade up to draft Defenseman Drew Fortescue
• New York Rangers got it right with Gabriel Perreault draft selection

The 2015 NHL Draft was complete, but Sather wasn’t finished trading just yet.

To replace Talbot, the Rangers’ final move was sending Ryan Haggerty to the Chicago Blackhawks for G Antti Raanta. The Hawks’ backup goalie played 14 games this past season, posting a pretty good .936 save percentage. If Henrik Lundqvist ever needs a rest next season, Raanta should be as close to a Goal Buster as you can get without being the real thing.

It was a very busy Day Two for the Rangers, and also a successful day. Sather cleared cap space to sign the other free agents and brought in some really great players with all the picks he got. BUT, only time will tell us just how successful that day was. Hopefully, many of the new players will develop into prodigies and we’ll all be able to smile when we look back on the 2015 Draft.

Next: What Cam Talbot Can Do for Edmonton

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