DEAL WITH DEVILS!
MONTREAL — Before Thursday night, nobody could ever say the Rangers made a deal with the Devils.
But at a time when the Blueshirts are looking to maximize a return on veteran pieces amid a rebuilding process, they will take the best offer from anybody. Thus, Michael Grabner was dealt late Thursday to the Devils — after the Rangers’ 3-1 loss to the Canadiens — for a 2018 second-round pick and 20-year-old defensive prospect Yegor Rykov in the first trade between the two Hudson River rivals since the Devils moved to New Jersey in 1982.
Grabner and Rick Nash were both healthy scratches Thursday, held out for precautionary reasons to avoid a potential injury with talks ongoing. If Nash is still a Ranger by the time they host Minnesota Friday night, he will remain scratched.
Rykov, a 2016 fifth-round pick, is currently playing for SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.
After trading Nick Holden to Boston on Tuesday for a third-round pick and defenseman Rob O’Gara, who made his Rangers debut Thursday, the Rangers currently have five picks in the first three rounds of the 2018 draft.
The Devils (31-22-8) occupy the first wild-card spot in the East and have a fivepoint cushion over Columbus and the Islanders. The Rangers (27-29-5) have lost 15 of their last 20. The Rangers signed the speedy 30-year-old Grabner on July 1, 2016 to what turned out to be a very team-friendly two-year contract with an annual $1.65 million cap hit. He regained his scoring touch on Broadway, finishing with 52 goals in 135 games as a Ranger; he led the team with 25 goals as one of the few brights spots of this trying season.
The cloud hovering over the Rangers’ locker room in recent weeks has led to players wondering at all hours of the day who will stay and who will go.
“It’s hard to sleep sometimes and you think a lot, but at the end of the day it’s a part of the game, and when you’re not performing at the level the team should be or hoping to be, it’s more than normal that these discussions and all the rumors come up,” Mats Zuccarello, himself the subject of rumors, said Thursday morning. “Just have to deal with it.”
Zuccarello was asked what fans have said to him since the team made its Declaration of Reconstruction on Feb. 8.
“Some people say get the hell out of here and then some people want you to stay,” he said. “So I think it’s mixed feelings about everyone. Hopefully the fans are just enjoying the rebuild and hopefully it’s gonna be good in the future. It’s hard for me to talk about. I don’t really know what’s going on. I just have to wait and see if I’m gonna be here or not.”
There should be at least one more deal for GM Jeff Gorton to make before Monday’s 3 p.m. deadline involving Nash, and perhaps more if a team decides to pay a worthy price for captain Ryan McDonagh.
It’s all sinking in for the players now that deals have actually been made, knowing that their performance has led to this and their chances at a playoff berth are becoming more remote.
“The whole situation, the atmosphere around the last few weeks, just plain and simple, it sucks,” Mika Zibanejad said.
STRONG DEBUT: Goalie Alexandar Georgiev made 38 saves in his NHL debut Thursday, the most by a Ranger in his NHL debut since shots and saves began being tracked in 1955-56.