For the second time this week, the Rangers decided to part ways with a player who had been a healthy scratch in several recent games. Adam Hall was moved today to Minnesota in exchange for fast skating forward Pascal Dupuis. Acquired in the off-season from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Dominic Moore, it was hoped that Hall could bring a physical element to the Rangers line-up, and help with creating some goals in and around the opposition crease. The experiment didn’t work out for New York or Hall, who saw his time cut, before ultimately being a healthy scratch after 48 straight starts to being the season.
Over the past couple of weeks, Hall has spent more time out of the line-up than in it, and it appeared only a matter of time before he was moved. Dupuis also had found himself fall out of favor with his coaches. The undrafted forward sprang to prominence in the 2002-03 season with the Minnesota Wild, as they made an unexpected run to the Western Conference finals. Dupuis picked up 20 goals in the regular season another 4 in the post-season, in what remains his best season to date. With a drop off in production, Dupuis has had his ice-time cut to the point where he was most recently playing on the fourth line for the Wild.
Dupuis is likely to miss tonight’s game as he travels to New York, but may be available for Saturday’s game against the Capitals. The Rangers will likely take a look at him on a number of different lines, though it appears that he will be competing mostly with Marcel Hossa for a spot, or could find himself in the fourth line wing position if the team does indeed trade Petr Prucha.
