The New York Rangers acquired All-Star Vladimir Tarasenko from the St. Louis Blues, a trade that answers a recent move made by a rival and sets the stage for more to come before the March 3 deadline.
The Rangers sent conditional 2023 first- and 2024 fourth-round picks, forward Sammy Blais and prospect Hunter Skinner to the Blues for Tarasenko, a prolific scoring winger who’s set to be an unrestricted free agent after the season, and depth defenseman Niko Mikkola.
Tarasenko gives New York an offensive boost in the hopes of making another deep playoff run following a surprise trip to the Eastern Conference Final last season. The 31-year-old Russian has 29 points in 38 games this season but has surpassed 30 goals six times in his NHL career.
Getting Tarasenko comes on the heels of the New York Islanders acquiring 30-goal-scoring center Bo Horvat from Vancouver and signing him to a $68 million, eight-year extension.
It puts more pressure on the teams around the Rangers and Islanders in the Metropolitan and the rest of the East, most notably the division-leading Carolina Hurricanes and second-place New Jersey Devils.
AVALANCHE: Star defenseman Cale Makar will miss the final two games of a current road trip because of a head injury.
Colorado Coach Jared Bednar announced the news before Thursday night’s game at the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Makar will also miss Saturday’s matchup at Florida and will be re-evaluated when the team returns to Denver to face the Lightning on Tuesday night.
Makar, who has 13 goals and 45 points in 45 games this season, was hurt on a check by Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter on Tuesday night.
Makar won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP last season when the Avalanche stopped Tampa Bay’s two-year reign as NHL champions by winning a six-game Stanley Cup Final.
DEVILS: Center Jack Hughes has an upper-body injury and is considered week to week.
Coach Lindy Ruff gave the injury update following the Devils’ morning skate ahead of their home game Thursday night against the Seattle Kraken. Hughes left practice early Wednesday.
KRAKEN: Seattle placed leading scorer Andre Burakovsky on injured reserve because of a lower body injury.
Burakovsky’s leg appeared to buckle on zone entry on his first shift of Tuesday’s game against the New York Islanders, and he played just 31 seconds in the 4-0 loss.
Burakovsky leads the Kraken with 39 points (13 goals and 26 assists) and is averaging a career-high 16:33 of ice time per game.
The Kraken activated defenseman Justin Schultz off injured reserve after he missed six games because of an undisclosed injury.
FLAMES: Defenseman Rasmus Andersson was sent to the hospital Wednesday night after being struck by a vehicle while riding a scooter in Detroit.
The team said Andersson was riding a scooter to dinner at about 6 p.m. when he was hit.
“He was going through a crosswalk,” Flames General Manager Brad Treliving said Thursday. “The good news – and the most important thing – is that Ras is doing well.”
The 26-year-old was released from a hospital Wednesday night after undergoing a “battery of tests,” the Flames said in a Twitter post.
The team says Andersson will remain with the team on its road trip, but is listed as day-to-day.
THURSDAY’S GAMES
LIGHTNING 5, AVALANCHE 0: Andrei Vasilevskiy made 30 saves, Branon Hagel had two goals and an assist, and Tampa Bay won at home.
This was the first meeting between the teams since Colorado ended Tampa Bay’s two-year run as NHL champs with a series win in last season’s Stanley Cup Final.
DEVILS 3, KRAKEN 1: Dougie Hamilton scored two power-play goals and New Jersey won at home.
FLYERS 2, OILERS 1: James van Riemsdyk and Morgan Frost scored in the shootout, Carter Hart made 34 saves and Philadelphia won at home.
PANTHERS 4, SHARKS 1: Sam Reinhart and Eric Staal each scored a pair of goals and Florida beat visiting San Jose for its season-high third straight win.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 32 saves in the win.
RED WINGS 2, FLAMES 1: Filip Zadina made a successful return to the lineup, scoring the go-ahead goal at 5:51 of the third period to lift the Red Wings over visiting Calgary.
Zadina had not played since Nov. 5 because of a broken right leg.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.