With the clock winding down to today’s 5:00pm deadline to sign 2009 first-round pick Tim Erixon, the Calgary Flames recognized that they had better begin considering Plan B.

That plan, it turns out, was to dangle Erixon’s rights on the trade market and see if there were any bites.

GM Glen Sather jumped at the opportunity, and Erixon is now a member of the New York Rangers along with Calgary’s fifth-round pick this year.  New York dealt forward prospect Roman Horak along with its two second-round choices, No. 45 and No. 57 to Calgary.  Erixon has already signed with the Rangers.

Had Erixon not signed and not been traded, he would have re-entered the draft and been a top-15 and likely top-10 pick.  So essentially, the Blueshirts turned two second-rounders and a mid-level prospect into another first-round choice.  However, the flipside of that is that it became clear Calgary had to deal Erixon, so the two picks and Horak may have been a significant package to send the Flames’ way.  Of course, we have no way of knowing what other offers Calgary received.

Erixon stands 6-3, 205 lbs and is known for being a strong two-way defender.  He tallied four power play goals this season for Skelleftea of the Swedish Elite League and had five goals and 19 assists in 48 games total.  According to those watching him closely, Erixon was a physical force at the World Championships and certainly has the ability to be an intimidating presence.  He has developed very well since his draft year and could be ready for the NHL this season.  He seems like a very strong bet to be a good pro and has top-pairing potential.

So what does it all mean?

The Rangers have a lot of faith in Christian Thomas and Chris Kreider.  It’s all but a forgone conclusion at this point that New York will draft another forward at No. 15, but most assumed they’d spend at least one of the second-round choices and possibly both on forwards.  The Rangers lack top talent on the wings, so by passing on the chance to add forwards at the draft, it’s clear that Rangers’ brass thinks the solution could come from within.  Thomas and Kreider both have good shots to become impact players, but the Rangers must be more confident in them than any of us realize.  They also must believe that they’re in good position to land a stud in the first round.

Another trade might be coming.  Adding a prospect like Erixon is probably a no-brainer, but the Rangers have a serious glut of young defenders now.  Dan Girardi is 27, Marc Staal is 24, Mike Sauer is 23, Ryan McDonagh is 21, and Michael Del Zotto is just 20-years-old.  That doesn’t include Dylan McIlrath, Pavel Valentenko, or Tomas Kundratek.  Erixon is believed to be NHL ready and is just 20-years-old himself, but it’s a little hard to envision the Rangers dressing a group that young next season.  That means that there’s a decent chance Sather will be listening to offers for at least one of his blue liners.  Staal is obviously going nowhere, and it’s doubtful that Sauer or McDonagh will be on the move after the seasons they just had.  It’s probably a little early to give up on Del Zotto, especially considering the Rangers gave Bobby Sanguinetti four years to find his game.  Girardi is coming off his best season and is the oldest of the bunch.  Plus, he’s the guy that constantly throws himself in harm’s way and has the biggest injury risk.  If Sather can turn Girardi into a scorer, he may pull the trigger.

The Rangers are quite happy with their prospect pool.  Sather hasn’t been trading away his picks for veterans willy-nilly like in the old days, but he hasn’t been afraid to move them for other assets.  New York now owns a first, a fourth, and two fifths in this draft.  Realistically, the Rangers can only count on landing one impact player from those picks, so the team must be happy with what it already has in the system.

Matt Gilroy is a goner and Steve Eminger might be too.  After a strong playoffs, many suspected that Gilroy might get another one or two-year-deal.  With Erixon on board, Gilroy doesn’t have a future with the team.  It’s still likely New York will want to have a veteran on a short-term deal to guide the youngsters and retaining Eminger makes some sense.  But both of these guys probably aren’t too happy about this news. 

New York is set on building from the back end out.  Years of adding expensive forwards via free agency and through trades yielded poor results, so the philosophy of the front office has changed dramatically.  With all-world goalie Henrik Lundqvist already in place, the Rangers have sought to add young defenders through all avenues in recent years.  The result is a young, mobile defensive core that is the envy of the rest of the league.  If the Rangers can add Brad Richards and an offensive winger, either from within or via trade, they could be a contender far sooner than anyone expected.

If you want to unweave the trade pieces a bit farther, here’s how this looks.  The Rangers dealt Bobby Sanguinetti, a second-round pick, and Roman Horak for Tim Erixon, Jasper Fasth, and a fifth-round pick.

In other Rangers news:

- Rangers Assistant Coach/Assistant GM Jim Schoenfeld told CT Whale beat writer Bruce Berlet that he expects the team to give a qualifying offer to John Mitchell, the hulking center acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline.  Mitchell could be an option as a fourth line center, depending on what happens with some of the potential buyout candidates.  He’s been kind of a forgotten man and few thought he had a future with the team, but the organization seems fairly high on him.

- Here are Berlet’s early thoughts on some guys the Rangers might look at in the draft.

- Yesterday the Rangers signed defenseman Blake Parlett to an entry-level deal.  Parlett, 22, spent most of last season in the ECHL before joining the Whale where he posted 12 points in 24 regular season games.  New York is obviously desperate for offensive punch from the back end, and apparently the team thinks there’s a shot that Parlett can one day provide that.

Season Review:

Breaking Down The Defense >

Breaking Down The Goalies >

Breaking Down The Offense >

Breaking Down The Prospects >

How Three Free Agent Signings In 2007 Have Shaped The Eastern Conference >

Spotlight On Glen Sather >

Spotlight On John Tortorella >

Player Reviews:

Spotlight On Mats Zuccarello >

Spotlight On Brian Boyle >

Spotlight On Matt Gilroy >

Spotlight On Ruslan Fedotenko >

Spotlight On Brandon Prust >

Spotlight On Bryan McCabe >

Spotlight On Alex Frolov >

Spotlight On Michael Del Zotto >

Spotlight On Martin Biron >

Spotlight On Brandon Dubinsky >

Spotlight On Marc Staal >

Spotlight On Steve Eminger >

Spotlight On Henrik Lundqvist >

Spotlight On Wojtek Wolski >

Spotlight On Sean Avery >

Spotlight On Dan Girardi >

Spotlight On Erik Christensen >

Spotlight On Ryan McDonagh >

Spotlight On Vinny Prospal >

Spotlight On Derek Stepan >

Spotlight On Marian Gaborik >

Possible First Round Pick:

Zack Phillips >

Sven Bartschi >

Mark Scheifele >

Mika Zibanejad > 

Mark McNeill >

Brandon Saad >

Joel Armia >

Nicklas Jensen >

Alexander Khokhlachev >

Tyler Biggs >

Matt Puempel >

Rickard Rakell >

Mario Lucia >

Tomas Jurco >

Dmitri Jaskin >

Phillip Danault >