Frank Vatrano has been traded to the New York Rangers for a 2022 4th round draft pick according to ESPN’s Kevin Weekes. Vatrano has been with the Florida Panthers since the 2017-2018 season.
OFFICIAL: #NYR have acquired forward Frank Vatrano from the Florida Panthers in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. pic.twitter.com/6nAjpUVAV5
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 16, 2022
Frank Vatrano Traded to Rangers for 4th Round Pick in the 2022 Draft
Vatrano spent the first few years of his career in between the Boston Bruins and their AHL affiliate. This was a result of his rocky start as a professional player. He did get a bit more solid, having 55 points in 36 games with Providence in 2015-2016 and 39 with Boston. With the Panthers, he put up a career-high 39 points in 2018-2019 and has averaged above 30 points ever since.
No salary appears to be retained, and he has a cap hit of $2.5 million. For the Rangers, this should be decently easy cap space to take in. This is a mainly rental trade as Vatrano is a pending UFA at the end of the season.
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What This Means For The Future
For the Rangers, this is purely a depth move and didn’t cost them a lot to get him. They’re giving up a low-end 4th round pick, in exchange for a 30-40 point player that’ll help fill out the bottom 6 for the Rangers If he produces at a similar rate to when he was in Florida, it’ll be a huge win for New York. And Florida could use the pick for leverage with another potential trade at the deadline.
Vatrano has been a pretty solid depth player for the majority of his career, and if he doesn’t fit with the Rangers, he is a UFA as mentioned previously. It’ll be easy for the rangers to let him walk in free agency end if it doesn’t work out. Although, Vatrano should fit with the Rangers and he should be getting a contract similar to the 3-year, $2.5 million contract he got with Florida.
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