New York Rangers' center Mike Rupp is officially headed to the Minnesota Wild in a trade that will send forwards Darroll Powe and Nick Palmieri to New York. The Wild had announced they would be shaking up their lineup combinations and have also decided to shake up their rosters with this big trade.
The Wild are getting an excellent veteran player in Rupp who will most likely play the fourth line. In his 10 seasons in the NHL, Rupp had garnered 94 points and 765 penalty minutes in 565 games played. Rupp is an excellent penalty-killer and has been a part of a Rangers' unit that ranks 19th in the NHL currently and finished last season ranked fifth in the league.
Wild head coach Mike Yeo had expressed disappointment in his team that has dropped four of six games after winning the first two of the season. Yeo said he was willing to anything to get his team going.
"This is the decision we take going into Monday's game, and we'll be ready to make new ones again after that," Yeo said.
The Rangers will be getting depth at the forward position with Powe and Palmieri after getting hit with injuries to Ryan Callahan and Chris Kreider. Powe posted 91 blocked shots last season which led all Wild Forwards. Palmieri is a minor-league player for the Houston Aeros of the AHL. In his 40 games played, he recorded 10 goals and 21 points. Palmieri could find himself in the starting lineup due to New York's lack of depth right now.
The Wild will be counting on Rupp to give the team a spark again. Minnesota sits at eighth in the Western Conference going 4-3-1 to begin the season. Rupp's veteran abilities and Stanley Cup experience should get the Wild moving again.