NEW YORK — The Rangers acquired Coyotes forward Wojtek Wolski on Monday in exchange for veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival.
New York has depth on defense with several young players — so much so that 20-year-old Michael Del Zotto was sent down to the American Hockey League — and the 32-year-old Rozsival became expendable.
New York was already missing Ryan Callahan and Erik Christensen up front when forward Alex Frolov was lost Saturday night to a season- ending knee injury.
“Things became a little more urgent, so I was getting a few more calls,” Rangers general manager Glen Sather said. “Sometimes those things just come up, and it came up fairly quickly today.”
Wolski — a left wing — has six goals and 10 assists in 36 games this season with Phoenix. However, he has only three points in his last 17 games. Last season, he had career highs with 23 goals, 42 assists and 65 points in 80 games split between Colorado and Phoenix, while posting a plus-21 rating. He is minus-6 this season.
In 356 NHL games, Wolski — the No. 21 pick in the 2004 draft — has 85 goals and 142 assists. He is also a shootout specialist, setting the record for a single season by scoring 10 times in 12 chances during 2008-09.
Rozsival has three goals and 12 assists in 32 games this season.
Footnotes.
Senators forward Alex Kovalev will be sidelined for at least a week because of a knee injury.
• Islanders defenseman Mark Eaton is scheduled to have surgery on his right hip in Vail this week and is lost for the season.
