Rangers acquire Flames prospect Erixon
Sweden's Tim Erixon, right, fights for the puck with Milan Michalek, left, from Czech Republic during their semifinal Hockey World Championships match in Bratislava, Slovakia. (May 13, 2011) Credit: AP
With an 11th hour trade, the Rangers Wednesday added Tim Erixon, the 20-year-old son of former Rangers forward Jan Erixon, who was Calgary's first-round pick in 2009, to a growing core of young defensemen.
To acquire the 6-3, 205-pound blueliner, who played in the Swedish Elite League last season, the Rangers packaged two second-round draft picks in the upcoming June 25-26 entry draft and prospect Roman Horak.
The Flames, who had selected Erixon at No. 23, needed to sign him by 5 p.m. Wednesday or else Erixon would have been able to re-enter this year's draft. When general manager Jay Feaster realized that a deal wasn't going to get done, he and Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather negotiated a trade. The Rangers also received a fifth-round selection, and currently have four picks: a first-rounder, fourth-rounder and two fifth-rounders in the draft.
Some projections had Erixon, a lefthanded shot who scored 24 points in 48 games last season, as a first-rounder if he re-entered the draft. If Erixon proves to be NHL-ready, he will join Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Sauer and perhaps Michael Del Zotto on defense. Erixon, rated No. 5 among European skaters in 2009, is considered a very good two-way player, with vision and toughness.
Had Erixon not signed, the Flames would have received a second-round selection. So the Rangers provided them with another second and Horak, a fifth-rounder in 2009 ranked as the team's No. 10 prospect by The Hockey News, who they deemed expendable in light of the signings of forward prospects Christian Thomas, Ryan Bourque and Carl Hagelin, and Boston College's Chris Kreider, who finished his junior year.
The transaction raises questions about future moves. Will the Rangers move a defense prospect, such as Tomas Kundratek, Jyri Niemi or Pavel Valentenko, who played in the AHL last season, in a deal to fill holes in this year's draft portfolio? And it does not bode well for restricted free agent Matt Gilroy, who shuffled between the third d-pair and the bench in New York last season.
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