Newyorkrangers.com reports that the Rangers have traded Scott Gomez, Tom Pyatt, and defenseman Mike Busto to the Montreal Canadiens for forward Chris Higgins (Smithtown native) and defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko.
From TSN...
Higgins, a 26-year-old restricted free agent winger, also struggled in 2008-2009, scoring a career-low 23 points in 57 games as he missed a combined 25 games with hand and groin injuries.
Prior to last season, however, Higgins recorded three straight seasons of at least 20 goals and he'll be a more economical option for the Rangers as he earned $1.7-million last season.
McDonagh, 20, was Montreal's first-round pick in 2007 and recorded 16 points in 36 games as a 6-foot-1, 212-pound sophomore at the University of Wisconsin in 2008-2009.
Valentenko, 22, has good size at 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, but left the Canadiens' farm team in Hamilton early last season to play for Moscow Dynamo in the KHL, where he finished with one assist in eight games.
On how the trade helps the Rangers Glen Sather told Rick Carpiniello at the Rangers Report...
“We’ve got lots of cap room now, and it opens lots of options.”
“Torts has talked about the young guys all year and we wanted to make some room for them, and we did.”
“Since this deal happened I’ve had three calls (from other teams), and it doesn’t take long for people to realize you’re going to make some changes.”
On being traded Higgins said...
“When I heard it happened, I was thrilled. If there was one place I was going to play other than Montreal, it would be in front of my friends and family.”
On palying for John Tortorella...
“I’ve always liked the way (Tortorella’s) teams have played. They don’t seem they take their foot off the gas pedal very often. Playing against the Rangers, they were one of the hardest teams to play against.”
...big fan of Higgins, especially being a LI guy. Injuries really slowed him down last season and expect a bounce back this year.
...i'll reserve judgement on Sather being able to open up cap room until I see what he does with it.
...sorry to see you go Scotty. In typical Ranger fashion the team brought you in to be a player you weren't and never surrounded you with a speedster winger who could light it up.
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