3:58PM: Bob McKenzie said that the focus from the Edmonton side was to add speed and get quicker. (McKenzie)
3:34PM: The Rangers have acquired Ryan Strome from the Oilers in exchange for Ryan Spooner.
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Strome, 25, was the 5th overall pick by the Islanders in 2011 and was traded two-years ago to Edmonton for Jordan Eberle.
This season Strome has 1 goal and 1 assist in 18 games, last season he had 13 goals and 21 assists in 82 games.
In 2014-15 with the Islanders he had 17 goals and 33 assists in 81 games.
Spooner, 26, had 1 goal and 1 assist in 16 games this season after putting up 4 goals and 12 assists in 20 games with the Rangers last year.
Strome is in the first-year of a two-year deal that has a cap hit of $3.1 million. He will be an RFA when his deal expires.
Spooner re-signed with the Rangers over the summer for two-years at a cap hit of $4 million.
The Rangers are retaining $900,000 of Spooner’s salary to make the deal even in terms of cap hit. (Friedman)
Adam Rotter: I like this deal for the Rangers and it’s pretty low risk for them to move one struggling Ryan for another. Strome was taken one pick ahead of Mika Zibanejad in 2011 so there is obviously an immense amount of talent there but things did not develop in Edmonton.
It’s a change of scenery trade for the two players but it also fits with what the Rangers are trying to do and build. At 25, Strome could easily be part of the Rangers future if he is able to find his game and live up to some of his potential. Maybe David Quinn can get the best out of him. There really isn’t much downside to this, at least in my view.
As for Spooner, he ends up back with the GM that drafted him in Peter Chiarelli and might be able to get a bigger role with the Oilers than he had with the Rangers. It never totally made sense why the Rangers re-signed him, I always thought he was going to be part of a package used to move up in the draft, but doing so allowed them to get a chance at a player like Strome that could be part of the future.