Rangers trade Brady Skjei to Hurricanes for first-round pick
Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei is defended by Sabres center Curtis Lazar at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 7. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – At the end of an eventful Monday at the Rangers’ practice facility, the Blueshirts beat the buzzer at the NHL trade deadline, dealing defenseman Brady Skjei to the Carolina Hurricanes for a first-round pick.
The move came at the end of a day in which the team re-signed Chris Kreider to a contract extension, and also announced that goaltender Igor Shesterkin and forward Pavel Buchnevich had been involved in a car accident Sunday night.
The Hurricanes own the Toronto Maple Leafs' first-round pick as well as their own, so Rangers will receive the later of the two picks.
Skjei, 25, had been on the Rangers’ top defense pair alongside longtime friend Jacob Trouba. He had scored eight goals and registered 15 assists in 60 games this season. But with the signing of Kreider – and with players like Tony DeAngelo, Ryan Strome, Alexandar Georgiev and Brendan Lemieux due for raises as restricted free agents with arbitration rights – the Rangers needed to find a way to create some salary cap room. Moving Skjei, who carries a $5.25 million cap hit for four more seasons after this one, helps with that.
Defense also is a position where the Rangers are well-stocked with young prospects. Libor Hajek, who started the season with the Rangers before being sent down on Jan. 14, and Yegor Rykov are in Hartford, and 2018 first-round picks K’Andre Miller (Wisconsin) and Nils Lundkvist (Sweden) both could arrive next season.
The Rangers now have 10 picks in the 2020 NHL draft.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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