The Rangers have traded Patrik Nemeth, a 2025 second round pick and a future conditional pick to Arizona for defenseman Ty Emberson.

The conditional pick allows the Rangers to choose the Rangers 2024 third round pick or 2026 second round pick.

Emberson, 22, was a third round pick (#73 overall) in 2018 and is a right shot defenseman.

He has played in 63 AHL games over the last two seasons and had 4 goals and 7 assists in 58 games last year.

He was a teammate of K’Andre Miller’s for two years at Wisconsin.

Emberson has one-year left on his entry-level contract.

Adam Rotter: Now we know why Nemeth wasn’t bought out and the Rangers clear all of his cap hit from the books. The cost was two future picks that the Rangers can’t really concern themselves with right now. Freeing up space without retaining or dealing with any dead space from a buyout is worth those picks if it allows the Rangers more flexibility this year and next. They get a young defenseman back in Emberson who has one full year of pro experience. Maybe he can be a depth defenseman or just fill a spot in Hartford.

Nemeth just didn’t work. He was signed to mentor Nils Lundkvist, Lundkvist was sent to the minors and Nemeth just wasn’t very good. He battled some Covid issues and missed time, but in general he wasn’t great, lost his spot to Justin Braun in the playoffs and wasn’t going to be back.

From the Rangers:

• Prior to turning pro, the Eau Claire, Wisconsin native attended the University of Wisconsin, where he was team captain his junior season.
• In three seasons with the Badgers, Emberson skated in 101 games, tallying 34 points (9G-25A) and a plus-11 rating. In 2020-21, the 6-1, 195 pound defenseman led Wisconsin with a plus-15 rating and was named an All-Big Ten honorable mention. In 2019-20, he earned the Fenton Kelsey Jr./Mike Richter Most Competitive Award and was an Academic All-Big Ten selection.
• That same season, his 62 blocked shots ranked second on the team and 27^th in the nation. During his freshman campaign, he scored the second-most goals of any Big Ten rookie defenseman (4) and was the recipient of the Dr. Joseph Coyne/Joe Pavelski Most Consistent honor and the Ivan B. Williamson Scholastic Award for his achievements in the classroom.
• Internationally, Emberson has represented the United States in several tournaments, including the 2020 World Junior Championship. He also played two years with the U.S. National Team Development Program.