Center Derek Stepan and goalie Antti Raanta were traded to the Arizona Coyotes by the New York Rangers on Friday for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and Arizona’s first-round pick (No. 7) in the 2017 NHL Draft.
Stepan, 27, had 55 points (17 goals, 38 assists) in 81 games with the Rangers this season and six points (two goals, four assists) in 12 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He has four years remaining on a six-year, $39 million contract (an average annual value of $6.5 million), according to CapFriendly.com.
Selected by New York in the second round (No. 51) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Stepan has 360 points (128 goals, 232 assists) in 515 games, and 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) in 97 playoff games.
“When I look at the Coyotes, I look at a team that has a ton of young talent, a team that is on the cusp of taking that next step toward being a real strong team and being someone that can compete for the [Stanley] Cup every single year,” Stepan said. “They have some young guys that have that youthful talent that everyone always talks about.”
Raanta, who was Henrik Lundqvist’s backup this season, was 16-8-2 with a 2.26 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and four shutouts. He is entering the final year of a two-year, $2 million contract.
“[This season] I felt that my game was finding the right way and my confidence level was getting better and better and I kind of felt I was giving the team a chance to win every night,” he said. “I feel like I am ready to take the one more step, be playing more and take the No. 1 spot.”
The Coyotes traded goalie Mike Smith to the Calgary Flames on June 17 in a deal that included goalie Chad Johnson in return.
Raanta, 28, is 47-23-9 with a 2.32 GAA, .917 save percentage and eight shutouts in 94 games (78 starts) with the Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks.
“He is a guy that loves being a part of a team that goes out and wins hockey games, and he loves to be the guy that goes out and gets it done,” Stepan said of Raanta. “That’s something that he is going to get done in Arizona. He’s an elite goaltender, he’s learned from [Henrik Lundqvist] a little bit in two years there and I think he is excited to grab more ice time and more games.”
Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton said the trade lets the Rangers add salary cap space and bring in more young talent.
“It was an opportunity for us,” he said. “Obviously we have some salary cap issues, so we had that to worry about. And the opportunity to go in the top 10 [in the draft], there are some players we like that we wanted to get in there. And Anthony Deangelo is a player we’ve liked and a certain type of player that we don’t have. When you put all those things together I think that’s the biggest reason why.”
DeAngelo, 21, had 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 39 games in his rookie season with the Coyotes in 2016-17. Selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning with the No. 19 pick in the 2014 NHL Draft, he has two years remaining on his contract that has an average annual value of $1.26 million.
The Coyotes have the No. 23 pick in the first round, acquired from the Minnesota Wild in a trade for forwards Martin Hanzal and Ryan White on Feb. 26.
(NHL.com photo)
