As the Rangers’ front office prepares to wheel and deal before the Feb. 25 trade deadline it doesn’t have to look too far to be reminded of one move that is paying high dividends.
That would be the swap that sent Derick Brassard to Ottawa in a deal that brought back Mika Zibanejad in the summer of 2016. At the time, it was partially about getting younger — Zibanejad 23 at the time and Brassard 29. It was also about saving cap space, with Brassard about to start the third year of his five-year, $25 million deal while Zibanejad had one year left at $2.