New York Rangers: Grading 5 trades that shaped Rangers lineup
By Justin Starr
Derek Stepan & Antti Raanta Trade –
On June 23, 2017 the New York Rangers traded away long time Ranger, Derek Stepan and backup goaltender Antti Raanta. The Rangers sent both of them in a package deal to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and the seventh pick in the 2017 NHL Draft (Lias Andersson).
At the time, Stepan was playing as the Rangers first-line center and was a key component to the Rangers roster. With the acquisition of Mika Zibanejad, the Rangers front office felt like Stepan was expendable. The Rangers need heading into the offseason was improving their defense and by acquiring DeAngelo they thought they’d be doing that.
The Rangers have high hopes that DeAngelo could be a main stay on the main roster but that ended up not being the case, at least as of now. DeAngelo has played most of the season in the AHL, where he currently has three assists in 11 games. He played eight games with the Rangers and was able to just contribute one assist.
As for Andersson, the Rangers sent him back to Sweden in hopes for him to develop his game over there for this season with Frölunda Hockey Club.
With DeAngelo underperforming and Andersson over in Sweden, the Rangers currently have no one on the main roster stemming from this trade. Not to mention, the Rangers needed to go out and sign Ondrej Pavelec to replace Raanta. This trade will all depend on how well Andersson and DeAngelo develop but for now…