Rangers trade Nils Lundkvist to Dallas Stars
Nils Lundkvist of the Rangers looks on during the third period against the Sharks at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 3, 2021. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Defenseman Nils Lundkvist, who had asked the Rangers for a trade and told the team he would not report to training camp this week, was dealt to the Dallas Stars on Monday night for a conditional first-round draft pick and a conditional fourth-rounder.
The Rangers will receive a first-round pick in 2023 that is top-10 protected. If Dallas’ 2023 first-rounder falls in the top 10, the Rangers instead will get the Stars’ first-round pick in 2024. The fourth-rounder is in 2025 and will become a third-round pick if Lundkvist accumulates a total of at least 55 points over the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons.
Lundkvist, 22, was the third of three first-round picks by the Rangers in 2018 in the early stages of the club’s rebuild. A righthanded shot from Sweden, he was named the winner of the Salming Award in 2020-21 as the best Swedish-born defenseman in the Swedish Hockey League. After that, he signed an entry-level contract with the Rangers last summer and came over to North America.
Lundkvist started last season as the right defenseman on the third defense pair but failed to impress in 25 games with the Rangers. He had one goal and three assists and was sent down to the Rangers’ AHL affiliate in Hartford in January when Braden Schneider was called up. Schneider, the Rangers’ second of two first-round picks in 2020, scored a goal in his NHL debut and played well enough to lock up a regular spot in the lineup.
With Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba and Schneider ahead of him on the team’s right defense depth chart, there didn’t seem to be room for Lundkvist to make the Rangers’ opening night roster unless he was willing and able to play on the left side. He asked for a trade as soon as he was sent to the minors, and though general manager Chris Drury told reporters last week that he hoped Lundkvist would report to camp, he moved quickly to trade him for a future asset before training camp starts on Wednesday.
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.
