The Rangers freed up some much-needed cap space by trading Ryan Reaves to the Wild on Wednesday before their game against the Ducks in Anaheim.
In exchange for Reaves, the Blueshirts received a 2025 fifth-round draft pick from Minnesota. The Wild will be taking on the remainder of Reaves’ $1.75 million cap hit, which will equate to approximately $4.8 million of space at the trade deadline.
Reaves’ agent, Kevin Epp, asked Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury for a trade while the team was in Los Angeles earlier this week, according to a source. The Rangers wanted to give Reaves a dignified departure, so reuniting him with Wild general manager Bill Guerin, whom the veteran winger knows from his days in Pittsburgh, was a way to do it.
The 35-year-old had been a healthy scratch for the Rangers in seven of the last eight games — and eight times overall. Despite playing a niche fourth-line role last season, Reaves had been edged out of the Rangers lineup by Julien Gauthier, who brings a lot more speed.