Rangers Acquire Another 1st for Stepan

			2017 Season			July 1st Status
To Arizona	Pos	Age	GP	G/W	Points	Years	Cap
Derek Stepan	F	27	81	17	55	4	$6.5m
Antti Raanta	G	28	30	16	41	1	$1m
-----
To New York	Pos	Age	GP	Goals	Points	Years	Cap
Anthony DeAngelo	D	21	39	5	14	2	$863k
2017 1st Round Draft Pick

The New York Rangers made a big splash as well on draft day, sending forward Derek Stepan and back-up goalie Antti Raanta to the Coyotes for the 7th overall pick tonight and defenseman Anthony DeAngelo.

The Rangers reportedly were not keen on Stepan's scoring numbers for another four years and they were obviously keen to take advantage of another solid pick in this year's draft, now occupying the 7th and 21st overall picks tonight.  New York is also operating with far more cap space than we normally see them with, projected to be around $19 million with a 21-man roster.

The Coyotes, on the other hand, get an experienced scoring forward and an experienced goalie on their roster, which goes well with Niklas Hjalmarsson, who they acquired in a deal earlier this morning.  All of a sudden, the Coyotes are a little harder to play against and they might be able to find the net a little more with Stepan in tow.

The Coyotes are going all kinds of crazy, making changes, adding players and parting ways with their coaches.  This add gives them a little bit more scoring, in theory, assuming they can find someone to play with him.  Arizona is still a little ways away from being competitive in the Pacific Division, but these moves are at least a commitment to making the changes in that direction.

The Rangers are going to be big players again in the free agent market with all this cap space, so making any assumptions on what they are going to do next season is a little premature, but for their long-term plans, you have to be pleased with the direction they're going in there.

Now, is it worth while going back to the mock draft?  Hmmmm...