On the morning of June 23, 2017, New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton decided to pick up the phone and make a major move. It was draft day, and the Rangers brass felt a roster shake-up was needed. In the early hours of that day, Gorton sent $6.5 million American center Derek Stepan, and goaltender Antti Raanta to the Arizona Coyotes for defenseman Tony DeAngelo, and perhaps the most important piece of that deal, the number seven overall pick in that night’s draft.
The Rangers held their own pick at 21st overall in which they took Czech center Filip Chytil.