Rangers acquire defenseman Justin Braun from Flyers

The New York Rangers got their veteran defenseman as they traded for Justin Braun. He came from an unlikely source, the Philadelphia Flyers.   He is a veteran right shot defender and is a decent depth addition for the Blueshirts.  He costs the Rangers a third round pick in next year’s draft.

He brings a ton of playoff experience to a very young Rangers blueline.

Braun is 35-years-old, 6’2″, 205 pounds.  He has played in 61 games for the Flyers this season, scoring five goals and addding 11 assists. He has been in Philadelphia since June 2019 when they acquired him from San Jose for two draft picks.

The Minneapolis native is a product of UMass-Amherst, joining Zac Jones and Frank Vatrano on the Rangers as former Minutemen.

He is a veteran of 783 NHL games and has averaged 19:38 minutes per game TOI in a career that began in 2010 after the San Jose Sharks picked him in the 7th round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

He’s a pending Unrestricted Free Agent making $1.8 million this season.

Braun is durable.  He’s missed only nine games over the last three season and was held out of the Flyers’ game against the Islanders Sunday.  He’s not an offensive threat though in his best season he had five goals and 33 points in 2017-18.    He had been paired with Ivan Provorov most of this season.

He has played almost exclusively on the right side for the last three years while in Philadelphia.

The question is what this means for rookie Braden Schneider or veteran Patrik Nemeth.  Schneider has played very well as a 20-year old, but can be overmatched when teams pressure him.  Braun can play both sides, but is more comfortable on the right side, the same as Schneider.

Perhaps the most important factor is that Braun has played 100 playoff games in his career, making him the Blueshirt with the most playoff experience.  He made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016 with the San Jose Sharks, playing all 24 playoff games that postseason.

Now that Drury has filled the defense slot he was looking trade for, we’ll see what he has in store in the next few hours.  So far, two solid acquisitions in Frank Vatrano and Justin Braun and no players going the other way.