Q & A: Why Kraken Traded Alex Wennberg To Rangers

As anticipated when Alex Wennberg was held out of both games of the Seattle Kraken's road trip, the 29-year-old Swedish center has been traded to the New York Rangers.

In return, the Kraken receive a 2nd round 2024 draft pick, and a second one for the 2025 draft.

The Fine Print: Because the Rangers wanted to retain salary cap flexibility, the Kraken agreed to retain 50% of Wennberg's salary for the remainder of the season.

The 2025 pick originally belonged to Dallas, before being traded to New York. It'll be a 4th-rounder, unless the player traded to the Stars, defenseman Nils Lundkvist, scores 24 more points before the end of the year.

In that highly unlikely event, the draft choice bumps up to the 3rd round.

Why NYR Made The Trade: The Rangers, currently fifth in league standings, believe they're serious Cup contenders. With Filip Chytil and Blake Wheeler having suffered season-ending injuries, quality replacements were a must.

Why Seattle Made The Trade: Getting picks is never as sexy as adding a key piece to a contender. But make no mistake, this was a deal Kraken general manager Ron Francis needed to make, and one for which he got a solid return in a seller's market.

• Wennberg's $4.5 million AAV contract is about to expire. ESPN's Emily Kaplan reported, "According to sources, Seattle had conversations with Wennberg about an extension, but he wanted a longer-term deal." The other alternatives were trade him now, or lose him for nothing.

• As Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times points out, "Trading Wennberg was always a strong possibility regardless of whether the Kraken remained in the race, namely because the team needs to eventually get (2022 1st round pick Shane) Wright up to the NHL and playing the center position.

More Instant Reaction

Kaplan: "Wennberg is a darling of the analytics community, though his production hasn't always matched his underlying metrics."

Larry Brooks, NY Post : "The left-handed Wennberg has put in time on the wing, so there may be circumstances when he shifts to that spot if more defensive consciousness is required with the Blueshirts protecting late leads. The Blueshirts will all but certainly add the 10-year veteran to the five-man penalty kill rotation up front."

Adam Herman, Bleacher Report : "A late-second-round pick and a fourth-round pick are probably not what anyone would have expected to pay for Wennberg in October, but one has to assess the trade within the circumstances of the environment.

"The Rangers filled the center need at a $2.25M cap hit without moving a first-round pick or any of their B-level prospects such as Brett Berard, Adam Edström or Adam Sýkora."