Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey were traded to the Colorado Avalanche by the New York Rangers on Saturday for Juuso Parssinen, Calvin de Haan and conditional second- and fourth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Rangers will retain 50 percent of Lindgren’s one-year, $4.5 million contract he signed July 30, 2024. The second-round pick is the better of their own or that of the Carolina Hurricanes. The fourth-round selection is the better of the Avalanche or the Vancouver Canucks.
Lindgren, a 26-year-old defenseman, can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. He played for New York since he was acquired in the trade that sent Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins on Feb. 25, 2018.
Vesey, a 31-year-old forward and another pending UFA, completed his second stint with the Rangers after signing a one-year contract Oct. 9, 2022.
The Rangers (29-26-4) face the Nashville Predators at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; FDSNSO, MSG 2, SNP, SNO, SNE, TVAS), five days before the NHL Trade Deadline at 3 p.m. ET on Friday. They’re four points behind the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets for a wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference one season after winning the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded to the best with the best record in the regular season.
The trades are the latest moves in what has been a season of roster turnover for the Rangers. New York acquiredJ.T. Miller from Vancouver on Jan. 31 for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and a first-round pick in the 2025 draft.
Captain Jacob Troubawas sent to the Anaheim Ducks on Dec. 6 for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a fourth-round pick in the 2025 draft. Kaapo Kakko, a 23-year-old forward chosen with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, was traded to the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 18 for defenseman Will Borgen and a third- and sixth-round pick in 2025, three days after he was a healthy scratch for a 3-2 loss at the St. Louis Blues.
Adam Fox, Lindgren’s longtime defense partner, is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury sustained in a 5-1 win against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Selected by the Bruins in the second round (No. 49) of the 2016 NHL Draft, Lindgren has 19 points (two goals, 17 assists) in 54 games this season, 99 points 12 goals, 87 assists) in 387 regular-season games and 11 points (three goals, 11 assists) in 43 playoff games.
Vesey signed with the Rangers as a UFA on Aug. 19, 2016, after choosing not to sign with the Predators, who chose him in the third round (No. 66) of the 2012 NHL Draft. He was traded to the Buffalo Sabres on June 20, 2016, but didn’t sign with them either. He has six points (four goals, two assists) in 33 games this season, his third after signing a one-year contract Oct. 9, 2022, coming off a professional tryout contact. Vesey has 192 points (100 goals, 92 assists) in 616 regular-season games for the Rangers, Sabres, Toronto Maple Leafs, Canucks and New Jersey Devils, and nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 31 playoff games.
De Haan, a 33-year-old defenseman, was a first-round pick by the Islanders (No. 12) in the 2009 NHL Draft and has 148 points (24 goals, 124 assists) in 676 games over 13 seasons for the Avalanche, Tampa Bay Lightning, Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks and Islanders. He’s had at least 100 hits and 100 blocked shots six times in the NHL and has been at least plus-1 in eight seasons.
Parssinen, a 24-year-old forward, has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) in 37 games this season for the Avalanche and Predators. He played his 100th NHL game Nov. 17 and was traded to Colorado by Nashville on Dec. 28.
The Rangers also traded Hank Kempf to the Avalanche. The unsigned 22-year-old defenseman was a seventh-round pick (No. 208) in the 2021 NHL Draft.
Colorado (35-24-2), which holds the first wild card in the Western Conference, hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
NHL.com senior writer Dan Rosen contributed to this report
