Slats Turns into Riverboat Gambler Brett Maverick at Trade Deadline

The Rangers acquired Keith Yandle from the Phoenix Coyotes. (Francois Lacasse/Getty Images)

New York Rangers President and GM Glen “Slats” Sather, turned into the 21^st Century equivalent of Bret Maverick, as he turned into a huge Riverboat gambler the day before the NHL Trade Deadline.

He made three separate moves and resigned Mats Zuccarello after putting the diminutive forward on the trading block.

Slats traded the Rangers fourth round pick in the 2016 Draft to San Jose for C James Sheppard. Sheppard, a 26 years old who can play both center and forward, has five goals and 11 assists for 16 points in 57 games this season.

Shep is a former first round pick of the Minnesota Wild in the 2006 NHL Draft, He was the ninth overall selection. He reached a career high of 24 points in 2008-09 with the Wild and also reached 20 points with the Sharks in 67 years ago last season.

He is six foot one and weighs 215 pounds. He will wear #45 with the Broadway Blueshirts.

Sather also sent Lee Stempniak to the Winnipeg Jets in return for F Carl Klingberg. Klingberg was a second round pick of the Jets in the 2009 NHL Draft and has appeared in 12 games for Winnipeg, two of which were this season. He has one NHL goal and an AHL record of 22 goals in 65 games.

He is six foot three and weighs 205 pounds and played for Frolunda in the Swedish Elite League, the same team that Henrik Lundqvist played for.

Sather resigned Mats Zuccarello to a four year deal worth $18 mil. He will be played $4.5 mil a season and the first year will have a no-trade clause, but not the other three. The diminutive Norwegian has 128 NHL points (add two assists for the game versus Nashville) and led the Rangers in scoring last season with 59 points and another r13 in 25 playoff games.

Last season Zucc won the 2013-14 Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award and has become not only a Garden fan favorite, but a Ranger locker room favorite as well.

All were happy with the new deal.

And in the biggest deal of the day, Glen landed defenseman Keith Yandle of the Arizona Coyotes. He paid a lot, but this offensive defenseman will be worth it, as he will QB the Power Play to another level.

The Rangers sent John Moore, prospect Anthony Duclair, 2015 second round draft pick and a 2016 first round draft pick to Arizona. It is a high price, but the Rangers have gone all in, in their quest for the Cup.

Yandle is 28 years old and has 41 points (4 goals and 37 assists) to lead the Coyotes. He has topped 40 points five times in his career, with a high of 59 (11 goals and 48 assists) in 2010-11, when he made the NHL All-star Game.

He is a native of Boston, MA

The Rangers also got back Arizona’s fourth round draft pick in the 2016 Draft and Chris Summers. Chris is 27 years old, stands six foot two and weighs 210 pounds. He was a 2006 first round pick of the Coyotes and has appeared in 17 games this season, registering three assists.

Summers was a teammate of Carl Hagelin at the University of Michigan and in 64 NHL games has a total of two goals and seven assists for nine points.

Chris will probably play at Hartford in the AHL.

Last season Slats traded Ranger Captain Ryan Callahan when he out priced himself in NY and got back Marty St. Louis. This move energized the team and the passing of Marty’s mom rallied the Blueshirts around their new teammate. This season, Slats played “chicken” with Mats Zuccarello, who knew a deal worth $4.5 mil a year was better than being trade away from the Rangers. He also pulled the trigger for a depth forward/center and a QB for his Power Play.

Move over Bart and Brett Maverick, there is a new Riverboat Gambler in town!