The Rangers have traded for Tyler Motte for the second straight year.
Motte is coming back to Broadway, with the Rangers sending Julien Gauthier and a conditional 2023 seventh-round draft pick to Ottawa, the Senators announced on Sunday.
If the Rangers advance to the second round of the playoffs, the pick will improve to the lower of the Rangers’ or Jets’ 2023 sixth-round picks.
Motte, 27, was a key bottom-six presence for the Rangers during their playoff run last season after they acquired him from the Canucks before the trade deadline. He has nine points in 38 games with the Senators this season.
Gauthier, 25, has nine points in 40 games for the Rangers this year, and 26 points in 131 games with the Blueshirts over the last four seasons.
The Rangers were interested in bringing Motte back after their run to the conference final last season, but they weren’t able to fit him in with their cap space dwindling. He ended up signing with Ottawa on a one-year, $1.35 million contract.
Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury has been active in recent weeks with the NHL trade deadline coming up on March 3. He made the big move for Vladimir Tarasenko on Feb. 9, acquiring the All-Star winger and defenseman Niko Mikkola for a conditional 2023 first-round pick, a conditional 2024 fourth-rounder, Sammy Blais and prospect Hunter Skinner.
The Rangers (33-14-9) had pulled to within two points of the Devils for second place in the Metropolitan Division after Saturday’s overtime loss to the Flames, which snapped their seven-game winning streak. The Rangers have earned at least one point in 10 straight games and entered Sunday with the fifth-most points in the NHL.