The Rangers have announced that they have traded Ryan Reaves to Minnesota for a fifth round pick in the 2025 NHL draft.

Trading Reaves opens up $1.34 million in cap space for the Rangers. (Puck Pedia)

The Rangers, as of now, will have around $4.8 million in cap space at the trade deadline. (Larry Brooks)

• Cap Friendly says that the Rangers will have $6.7 million in deadline cap space.

Darren Dreger says that Reaves “made it clear” that he wanted a change of scenery and notes that he has a history with Wild GM Bill Guerin.

Reaves had only played in 12 games this season for the Rangers and has only played thrice since November 1.

The Rangers acquired Reaves in July 2021 from Vegas for a 2022 third-round pick and signed him to a one-year extension.

He played in 69 games for the Rangers last season and 18 in the playoffs and fought five times for the Rangers.

Adam Rotter: There were two parts to Ryan Reaves. On-ice Ryan Reaves and off-ice/locker room Ryan Reaves. The off-ice/locker room Ryan Reaves had a big role as a leader and culture setter that helped the Rangers take develop and take a few steps forward. On-ice Ryan Reaves had no role on this team. He was brought in prior to last season as part of the big shift to get tougher and grittier, and he did that, but he’s too slow and one-dimensional at this point to keep in the lineup or on the roster. No one can replace his overall toughness, but the Rangers have shown that they have more than enough players willing to mix it up if things get out of hand or someone starts taking liberties.

The cap space and roster flexibility was just more valuable right now, and going forward, than Reaves.