Vatrano traded to Rangers by Panthers

Frank Vatrano was traded to the New York Rangers by the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

Florida received a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft for the forward. It will be the lower pick of New York's selection or the Winnipeg Jets' selection previously acquired by the Rangers.

"Florida is my home, I was there for five years, but to get a call and find out it was the Rangers I'm absolutely thrilled to be here," Vatrano said following his New York debut, a 2-1 loss at home to the New York Islanders on Thursday. "It's a dream come true to play at Madison Square Garden for the Rangers. Ownership, staff, coaches and all the way down to the players have been very welcoming."

Vatrano played 14:47 and had one shot on goal and one blocked shot playing on a line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome.

"It's a great opportunity playing with two world-class players like that," Vatrano said. "For me I'm just trying to bring my speed, get to the dirty areas and create space for them. But this team is loaded with talent. I'm excited to play with those two guys right now and anyone else on this team."

Vatrano is in the final season of a three-year contract he signed with the Panthers on Feb. 23, 2019, and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

"Moving Frankie Vatrano was no easy task," Panthers general manager Bill Zito said. "He's a wonderful human being, a wonderful teammate, a good hockey player, and it was very difficult to do. And there's a little bit of a pit in our team right now with his absence. And that was not taken lightly."

The 28-year-old has scored 19 points (10 goals, nine assists) in 50 games this season. He scored at 1:11 of overtime Tuesday to give Florida a 3-2 win at the San Jose Sharks, one of his two goals in the game.

"I know about him from playing him in Boston and then playing Florida the last few years," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "He's got a great shot. He's quick. He skates. He scores some goals. He hasn't played a whole lot of minutes in Florida with the team they have down there. We're excited, good opportunity for us and good opportunity for him."

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Signed by the Boston Bruins as an undrafted free agent Feb. 22, 2018, Vatrano scored 157 points (93 goals, 63 assists) in 379 regular-season games for the Panthers and Bruins, and three points (two goals, one assist) in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"Frankie was part of this family since I've been here," Florida coach Andrew Brunette said. "A tremendous teammate and person. It's the tough part of hockey ... We wish him the best and we're going to miss him."

The Rangers are without forwards Kaapo Kakko, who has not played since Jan. 21 because of an upper-body injury, and Kevin Rooney, who was placed on injured reserve March 3 with an upper-body injury.

"I think [Vatrano is] pretty excited. Whether he's lying to me or not, he seemed to be real excited this morning, " Gallant said. "He's looking forward to an opportunity to play more minutes, obviously. We added another piece to our team. He's a pretty good hockey player, can score some goals and play a good 200-foot game. "

Later Wednesday, the Panthers acquired defenseman Ben Chiarot in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal received a first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and unsigned forward prospect Ty Smilanic for the defenseman.

Chiarot scored 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 54 games this season.

The 30-year-old is in the final season of a three-year, $10.5 million contract ($3.5 million average annual value) he signed with the Canadiens on July 4, 2019, and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. Montreal agreed to retain 50 percent of Chiarot's remaining salary.

"Ben brings a number of different characteristics to our [defenseman] core that I think support and buttress the group," Zito said. "He can crunch big minutes. He has the ability in the defensive zone to get to pucks. He has the size/strength element that lends to defensive pressure. He can move a puck."

NHL.com staff writer Amalie Benjamin and senior writer Dan Rosen contributed to this report