It has been a question on the mind of many of the Rangers faithful for some weeks now, what is Chris Drury going to do at this year’s trade deadline. Today we got the answer, with the trade of Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Colorado Avalanche along with prospect Hank Kempf in exchange for a couple of depth roster players and two picks.
The trade is an acknowledgement of where the Rangers stand with six days to go until the trade deadline; a bubble team that currently sits four points out of a playoff spot on the back of what has been a very disappointing season that has been filled with drama dating back to the off-season. It is a pragmatic response to a team that looks anything but a contender, and has a few remaining expiring assets that other teams might value for their own playoff runs.
Coming back to the Rangers are 24 year old center/wing Juuso Parssinen and 33 year old defenseman Calvin de Haan, along with conditional 2nd and 4th round picks in 2025. The return being boosted a little by the Rangers retaining half of Ryan Lindgren’s $4.5 million salary for this season.
A former first round pick of the New York Islanders (2009-12th), de Haan played parts of six seasons with the club before signing on with the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent. The Rangers will be his 6th franchise, and at this stage of his career the 6-1 192lb Canadian is seen more as a 6th/7th defenseman. While Drury may elect to extend him in the same way he brought Chad Ruhwedel back this season, it would be surprising if de Haan figures to be on the roster next season.
The 24 year old Parssinen is more of a young player who hasn’t really found his way after working his way into the NHL as a 7th round pick (2019-210th pick). The 6-3 212lb bottom six forward, has played both center and wing, and while he has NHL size and strength, his skating and overall offense and defense, haven’t really been able to translate.
For those who may not remember, Parssinen scored his first NHL goal in his NHL debut against the New York Rangers back in 2022, which still stands out as his best season. He was previously acquired by the Colorado Avalanche earlier this season, but managed just 4 goals and 11 points over 37 games split between the Predators and Avalanche.
Veterans weren’t coming back
Both Lindgren and Vesey were set to become UFAs this Summer, and neither was expected to come back for the 2025-26 season. The 27 year old Lindgren has seen his play taper off significantly under Peter Laviolette’s system which relies on defensemen jumping in aggressively on the offensive side, and play more of a man-on-man style in the defensive zone. Neither scenario has really played into Lindgren’s strengths, and saw him significantly exposed on many nights.
Even before that, Lindgren’s game seemed to be tapering off in 2022-23, which saw him play just once over a five-week span late in the year following a shoulder injury. The Minnesota native did ultimately return for the final two weeks of the season, and appeared in all seven games of the round one loss to the Devils.
Despite being a little undersized for an NHL defenseman at 6-0 194lbs, Lindgren played a fearless style that saw him often bloodied and bruised, and often was the target of opposition hits that resulted in him having to be helped off the ice.
Lindgren was perhaps the best return from the 2018 trade deadline, where he was acquired from Boston before he’d played an NHL game along with a 1st round pick, a 7th round pick, Ryan Spooner and Matt Beleskey. A B-grade prospect, Lindgren worked hard and earned a three-game stint in January 2019 as the rebuilding Rangers looked to give some of their prospects a chance.
In April of 2019, the Blueshirts would add US Juniors defensive partner Adam Fox in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes, and the pair would ultimately become the top defensive duo for the team over the last several seasons.
Lindgren’s start to the 2024-25 season was impacted by what was thought to be a broken jaw that he suffered in a fight with the Islanders Scott Mayfield during a pre-season game.
He finishes his Rangers career with 387 appearances for the franchise, and an additional 43 playoff appearances. He falls one short of 100 points, having registered 12 goals and 87 assists over seven seasons. His 387 games ranks him 79th all time for the Blueshirts, and his 255 penalty minutes places him 97th all time.
Vesey’s Traded By Rangers For Second Time
A former 3rd round pick of the Nashville Predators, Jimmy Vesey ultimately signed with the Rangers in 2016 as an unsigned prospect following the completion of his four year career with Harvard. Initially seen as a middle six winger, Vesey played three seasons with New York, before being traded to Buffalo in the Summer of 2019.
The Boston native spent the next three seasons with four different clubs, and saw his career at the cross-roads following disappointing stints with New Jersey in 2021-22 following stops in Toronto and Vancouver. Given a professional try-out to attend Rangers camp in 2022, he earned himself a one year veteran minimum deal to play in the bottom six for New York.
Vesey’s relative low-cost for solid defensive work as well as some timely offense that year, saw him get a two-year extension that ran through the end of this season. Like Lindgren, Vesey saw his season delayed this year due to a preseason injury which saw opportunities open up for the likes of Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe to assume his 4th line role.
The 31 year-old missed the first 10 games of the season, and recently was a healthy scratch for 9 games spanning from January 14 through to February 1st. Only an injury to Adam Edstrom allowed him to move back into the line-up.
Over his two stints with the Rangers, Vesey played 434 games, registering 78 goals and 147 points, along with 2 goals and 7 assists in 31 playoff appearances. His 78 goals ties him for 77th all time as a Rangers, and his 9 empty net goals for the franchise place him in a three-way tie for 8th all time.
What’s next for Drury
With two of his primary UFAs dealt, Drury has little remaining that might be of interest to other clubs. Right Wing Reilly Smith, Jonathan Quick and the newly acquired de Haan are the only UFAs remaining on the Rangers current roster, and it Quick holding a 20 team NTC and unlikely to be moved.
Smith could potentially return a 3rd or 4th round pick, or perhaps more if bundled with another player, pick or prospect. He has been a serviceable two-way forward, if not a spectacular success for the Rangers, and does have 106 games of playoff experience along with a Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights.
While Drury would undoubtedly still entertain offers for Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, few playoff bound teams will have the Cap space to accommodate either, and Drury is unlikely to want to hold onto salary for either player given they both have term remaining (5 years for Zibanejad, and 2 for Kreider after this season).
Trading defensemen K’Andre Miller or Zac Jones also looks challenging at this stage, with Adam Fox out for an extended period. While it’s possible that another team offers up a compelling package for either, or Drury manages to acquire another defenseman in a trade, it seems more likely that these moves – if they were to happen – would come in the Summer.
Per Arthur Staple of The Athletic and Vince Mercogliano of Lohud.com, the Rangers are still expected to be modest buyers at the deadline, particularly looking for players who have term.