The Rangers added reinforcements before the NHL trade deadline.
The Blueshirts on Wednesday acquired veteran forward Alex Wennberg from the Kraken, sending their own 2024 second-round pick and a conditional fourth-round 2025 pick to Seattle, the team announced.
Wennberg, 29, recorded nine goals and 16 assists in 60 games this season, his third with the Kraken.
The Rangers have until Friday’s 3 p.m. deadline to make any additional trades for their Stanley Cup push.
Originally a 2013 first-round pick by Columbus, the two-way Wennberg joins a Rangers team that lost Blake Wheeler and center Filip Chytil to significant injuries.
Now in his 10th NHL season, Wennberg boasts 90 goals and 240 assists over 693 games with the Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers and Kraken. Wennberg’s 25 points this season were seventh-most on the Kraken and would rank eighth on the Rangers. His four game-winning goals and 65 blocked shots both led Seattle.
Wennberg’s best season came in 2016-17, when he recorded a career-high 59 points, including 46 assists, for Columbus. He scored a career-high 17 goals in 2020-21 during his lone season with Florida.
The Stockholm-born Wennberg has appeared in 42 playoff games, adding a little extra postseason experience to a Rangers team that leads the Metropolitan Division at 40-18-4.
The Rangers tied a franchise record with 10 consecutive wins between Jan. 27 and Feb. 24 but have since dropped three of four games, including Monday at home against the Atlantic-leading Panthers.
