Rangers bring back Tyler Motte from the Ottawa Senators

Chris Drury seems to like his guys. After seeing how well Tyler Motte worked in the Big Apple last season, the Rangers decided to go out and bring him back. This addresses the penalty kill situation and he can be added to this roster without jeopardizing anything in the locker room because he has played with most of these guys from his time here less than a year ago, even if it was only half a season.

Julien Gauthier going out the door is not easy to see. He had started to play really well this season. He never had the tools to put it all together it seemed. Despite having the speed and strength to dominate on the ice, his shot just never became capable of beating netminders. Gauthier going back to Canada and playing in an area that will accommodate him in his native French may allow him to feel more comfortable in his play.

As for the conditions on the pick, it depends on the Rangers’ playoff success. If the Blueshirts win the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the pick will become the lesser of the two sixth-round picks that the Rangers currently own. It’s a late pick in a draft that is really deep but even still it is unlikely to come back to bite the Rangers, it could make a big difference when it comes to the playoffs.

It’s really difficult not to like this trade for the Blueshirts. The net change in salary taken on is roughly $400,000. That’s almost nothing when you consider the cap limit is $82.5 million. I may be seeing this through a different lens though so let me know what you think. Did Drury get this right? Was this the kind of move that you wanted to see the Blueshirts make ahead of another deep (hopefully) playoff run?