After weeks of waiting for the NHL trade deadline day to arrive, when it did, the Rangers moved aggressively by trading away forward Kevin Hayes and defenseman Adam McQuiad in separate deals that added to the rebuilding club's increasing stockpile of draft picks.
After having traded forward Mats Zuccarello to the Dallas Stars on Saturday night, the Rangers began Monday by sending Hayes, their No. 2 center and third-leading scorer, to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for a first-round draft pick in 2019, a conditional fourth-round pick in 2020, and 22-year-old winger Brendan Lemieux, the son of former Devils and Colorado Avalanche forward Claude Lemieux.
The Rangers then sent McQuaid to the very active Columbus Blue Jackets, and old friend John Tortorella, for defenseman Julius Bergman, plus a fourth-round and seventh-round draft picks this summer.
