The Colorado Avalanche continue to make trades.
The team announced on Saturday afternoon that they reached a deal with the New York Rangers to move Calvin de Haan and Juuso Parssinen in exchange for Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey. Colorado also sent a second-round pick and a fourth-round pick to New York.
This is the fourth notable trade the Avs have made this season and we’re still just under one week away from the March 7 trade deadline. They acquired goaltenders Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood in two separate deals in November and December and shocked the hockey world in January by trading Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Lindgren scored 19 points in 54 games for the Rangers this season while logging 19:56 per night on average. He’s known mostly for his willingness to block shots and his simple defensive play alongside puck-mover Adam Fox.
Vesey is a former college star who completely reinvented his game in his second go-around with the Rangers. Known mostly for skill and scoring early in his career, Vesey has developed into a very effective defensive winger who can kill penalties.
Both Lindgren and Vesey are improvements over de Haan and Parssinen in their respective roles and it ultimately cost the Avs two draft picks to make the upgrade. Lindgren will round out the top-four on Colorado’s blueline and Vesey will give the team another reliable depth forward.
The Avs have a 35-24-2 record and are tied for third place in the Central Division with the Minnesota Wild. They’re six points back of the Dallas Stars with two more games played and they’re 15 points back of the Winnipeg Jets for the division lead.
The Rangers are on the outside of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference with a 29-26-4 record. They’re tied with the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators with 62 points, four back of both the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings, who occupy the two Wild Card spots.
