When Michael Grabner was traded to the New Jersey Devils on February 22nd, 2018, one of the pieces that came to the Rangers in return were the rights to a Russian defenseman by the name of Yegor Rykov, a 5th round, 132nd overall draft pick in 2016. At the time of the trade, Rykov was an established young defenseman with an SKA St. Petersburg team coming off a Gagarian Cup win led by Igor Shesterkin in goal and with the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk and Nikita Gusev up front.
Rykov is considered a stay at home defenseman, with only 9 assists to show during the team’s Gagarian Cup season while playing 47 games.