New York Rangers: Making sense of the Joey Keane trade

Slam on the brakes! There has been a trade involving the New York Rangers but not the one we were all bracing ourselves for.

It was announced today that the New York Rangers have traded defenseman Joey Keane to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward Julien Gauthier.

It is a straight player-for-player swap between two teams who were looking to improve certain areas of their depth chart.

For the Rangers, they bolster their forward pipeline with a player in Gauthier who was selected with the 21st overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

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Gauthier is an explosive power forward who boasts a mouthwatering package of a high hockey IQ, elite vision and an impressive work rate.

The 22-year-old has been lighting it up in the AHL this year with 26 goals and 11 assists for 37 points in 44 games for the Charlotte Checkers, fourth in the AHL in goals, while Gauthier has also tallied one assist in five NHL games for the Carolina Hurricanes this year.

Gauthier also recorded career-highs in goals (27), assists (14) and points (41) with the Checkers last year, before contributing five goals and three assists for eight points in the postseason as Charlotte won the Calder Cup.

Gauthier carries a cap hit of $863,333 and is under contract through 2020-21.

The Rangers sent Joey Keane to Carolina in exchange for Gauthier, and they were able to trade from a position of strength.

After all, the Blueshirts are loaded with high-end defensive prospects whereas they have a shortage of talented forwards in the pipeline.

This was somewhat of a surprise, though, given that Keane was called up to the NHL by the Rangers last week, although he was sent back down without making his NHL debut.

Keane was taken by the New York Rangers with the 88th overall pick in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, with the defenseman going on to light up the AHL in his rookie year this season.

Through 49 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack, Keane recorded eight goals and 22 assists for 30 points, leading to an appearance at the AHL All-Star Weekend.

Keane was highly-regarded by the Rangers front office but, again, the 20-year-old was somewhat expendable because of the riches this franchise has on the blueline in terms of prospects.

So, while this trade will hardly send ripples throughout the hockey world, it is a smart move by the Blueshirts and also a possible precursor for what may be to come over the next week.

Although we are only reading between the lines, trading Keane who was high up on the depth chart, suggests that the Rangers may not be moving a defenseman.

Trading for Gauthier, however, is not only a move for the future but it could also be a move for the now given that the wing is ready to roll in the NHL right away.

With his hulking 6’4″ 227 lbs frame, Gauthier has been compared to former Rangers forward Rick Nash and, like Nash, Gauthier is strong along the board and he also moves well for his size.

If the Blueshirts do move on from Chris Kreider, Jesper Fast and Ryan Strome at the Trade Deadline, then it is highly possible that Gauthier could be called upon to slot in and finish the year in the NHL.

If not, then Gauthier will have Training Camp and the preseason to impress and try and win a roster spot for 2020-21.

Although not a significant trade, especially compared to what could come later in the week, there is no such thing as a small trade in the week leading up to the Trade Deadline.

This can also be considered a win-win trade for both teams given that the Rangers have added a high-end forward prospect who is also NHL ready, while the Hurricanes address a need by obtaining a defensive prospect in Keane that has lots of upside.

There will be bigger things to talk about later this week but, for now, the New York Rangers have addressed both the present and the future, and we could be seeing a lot of Julien Gauthier after the Trade Deadline.