New York Rangers Trade Trouba and Sign Shesterkin

The Rangers are in the midst of a five-game homestand, but it is the news off the ice that makes the major headlines as they prepare for Pittsburgh (7:30PM on ESPN+).

Rangers	Rankings	Penguins
13-10-1	Record	11-12-4
18th	League Rank	21st
13th	Goals For	21st
9th	Goals Against	31st
10th	Power play	13th
2nd	Penalty Kill	17th

Off Ice News

The major news that occurred prior to the game was that the Blueshirts have traded Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2025 and 25-year-old Urho Vaakanainen.
- Anaheim acquired Trouba’s entire salary which cleared 6.9 million after taking on Vaakanainen’s 1.1 million cap hit
- Vaakanainen was a former first-round selection by the Bruins in 2017. He stands at 6’2 and is left handed. Currently, the Finn is currently on IR with an upper-body injury
The following is a statement made by Rangers General Manager Chris Drury regarding the trade:
- “I want to sincerely thank Jacob for his contributions to the Rangers and our community. Jacob has been an example on and off the ice for our organization and played a major role in our success over the last several years. Since coming to New York five years ago, and serving as Captain for the last three seasons, he has demonstrated grit, toughness, and tremendous leadership and we can’t thank Jacob enough for everything he has done for the Rangers.”
If trading their captain was not big enough news – the Rangers have signed goaltender Igor Shesterkin to an eight-year contract worth 11.5 million per year. This contract makes Shesterkin the highest paid goalie in NHL history
- Shesterkin is slated to start in goal for New York on Friday night
According to the media that covers the Rangers, they are not done with reshaping their team and that the Trouba trade was just the first domino to fall. Other names rumored to be available include Chris Kreider, Ryan Lindgren, and Mika Zibanejad.
According to the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, one big name the Rangers were targeting is Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators. Trading for Tkachuk won’t be easy and they would have to give up a haul of assets to land Tkachuk. Young players involved that could in theory go the other way include Alexis Lafreniere, Gabe Perrault, Brennan Othmann along with other roster players and picks. Don’t expect Tkachuk to move midseason

Rangers vs Penguins News

The Rangers called up Victor Mancini who will play on Friday night, as well as calling up Matthew Robertson as late as 5PM on Friday evening. Robertson isn’t expected to play on Friday. He’ll serve as the extra defender for warmups
Leading the Penguins in scoring are their two superstar centers in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby has 26 points in 27 games whereas Malkin has 24 points in the same amount of games.
Alex Nedeljkovic will start in goal for Pittsburgh. Nedeljkovic is 4-4-3 with an .883 save percentage on the season
The Penguins are coming in on a four-game winning streak, whereas the Rangers have lost six of the last seven
Brett Berard remains out of the lineup as he continues to skate in a non-contact jersey
Kreider and Vincent Trocheck will each represent Team USA in the Four Nations Face Off in February along with Fox who was previously announced. Kakko will represent Team Finland while Zibanejad will be representing Team Sweden