Snapshots: Rangers, Lagesson, Maletta

Back in the summer, it looked as if the Rangers had done rather well for themselves with the acquisition of Jacob Trouba with the centerpiece of the return being the first-round pick they had received from Winnipeg months earlier for rental center Kevin Hayes.  However, Larry Brooks of the New York Post opines that in hindsight, they may have been better off keeping Hayes and signing him at the price he was looking for in the 2018 offseason over acquiring Trouba via trade.

Trouba has done well for New York this season but hasn’t quite lived up to the billing relative to his $8MM price tag.  Meanwhile, Neal Pionk, the player that Winnipeg acquired in the swap, has actually outproduced Trouba offensively by five points so far this season.  There’s still plenty of time for things to change but as of right now, the two Winnipeg trades haven’t quite worked out as well as the Rangers would have hoped, especially with young center Lias Andersson not panning out like they were expecting.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

• Oilers prospect William Lagesson has switched agencies, reports Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal. The defenseman has joined Allan Walsh and Octagon after previously being represented by Markus Lehto.  The 23-year-old is in the final year of his entry-level contract and has yet to suit up in Edmonton despite being recalled twice already this season.
• Former Blue Jackets prospect Jordan Maletta has been cleared to return to hockey and is set to enroll at Brock University next semester, notes OHL broadcaster Victor Findlay (Twitter link). The 24-year-old was flipped to Arizona in February of 2018 before being a part of the Marian Hossa trade five months later but Chicago terminated his contract when he was deemed medically unfit to play.  He spent last season as a part-time assistant coach with OHL Niagara but now will unretire and resume his playing career.