The Rangers are sending a me sage that their rebuild may be on the fast track.

In a blockbuster deal Monday, in exchange for defenseman Neal Pionk and the 20th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. Both players are pending restricted free agent blueliners with very differentstyles of play, changing teams in very different situations.

The Jets Pittsburgh Pirates Jersey were forced to make a move on Trouba due to a salary cap crunch and an inability for the sides to agree on a long-term contract.

The Rangers, meanwhile, are opportunists, parting with the pick they acquired for dealing Kevin Hayes to the Jets at the trade deadline and an expendable bottom-pair defenseman on an expiring contract. After ama sing a trove of draft picks and prospects in consecutive years, general manager Jeff Gorton is entering the next phase of roster reconstruction by adding immediate talent to supplement a young core.

Let's dive intothe trade grades.

NHL DRAFT 2019:

New York Rangers receivefrom Winnipeg:

Defenseman Jacob Trouba

Jets receive from New York:

Defenseman Neal Pionk and the 20th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft

Gorton was able to take advantage of Winnipeg's salary cap situation fora major Jordan Lyles Jersey boost to the Rangers'defensive corps without losing a meaningful roster player or one of their top prospects. And Trouba, one of the most underrateddefensemen in the league buried on Winnipeg's blueline,brings an immediate solution to their blue line woes.

The Rangers have seen recent signings Kevin Shattenkirk and Brendan Smith flop, as both have been unableto produce muchoffensively, and strugglesin their own zone left the right side weakened. Trouba, a right shot, jumps both on the depth chartas New York's top-pairanchor right away, moving out from Dustin Byfuglien's shadow in Winnipeg.

In 82 games last season, the 25-year-oldregistered eight goals and 50 points to be the Jets' leading scorer on defense. He also skated around22:53 minutes per game, ranking second among all Winnipeg blueliners (trailing only Byfuglien).

Hes a big defenseman, hes 25 years old, he can play against the best players, he has offense, he can kill penalties, hes in the prime of his career...we jumped on it.- GM Jeff Gorton on Trouba

The Rangers allowed 3.26 goals per game on average in 2018-19, ninth-worst in the NHL Guillermo Heredia Jersey . And on special teams, theyconverted on the man advantage le s than 20 percent of the time, and they had the fourth-worst penalty kill in the league (78.2 percent). Trouba should provide not only more defensive stability, but also more production, having provento be a strong puck moverandpower-play quarterback in Winnipeg when given the opportunity.

With New York expected to draft Kaapo Kakko second overall, and with theblue line now significantly improved, things are looking up for the Blueshirts as Gorton continues to rebuild the roster.

What comes next, of course, is negotiations to sign Trouba to a long-term deal. If the sides areunable to reach an agreement, Gorton could flip the blueline at the trade Dario Agrazal Jersey deadline no harm, no foul.

NHL TRADE RUMORS:

Players like Trouba don't come often enough in the NHL, and though his time with the Jets hasn't been perfect, he was a major part of their playoff runs in back-to-back seasons,loggingbig ice time at even strength and on special teams especially when the oft-injured Byfuglien was out of the lineup.

The Jets lose significantdepth and talent without Trouba. And although the received another right-handed shotin Pionkto fill the depth chart, he's a third-pairing defenseman who wasn'tknown as a po se sion driver in New York. Pionka physicaldefenseman who isn't afraid to throw his weight around and block shots, butstruggles with puck po se sion and doesn't provide a lot of offense. Only 23, he registered 26 points with the Rangers in his sophomore campaign in 2018-19.

In addition to Pionk, the Jetsreacquired thepickthey'd previously shipped off to New York when they rentedHayes at the deadline. This gives them afirst-round selection for the first timesince 2017 and the chance to begin restocking their prospect base. At No. 20, there should be several strongdefensive prospects to choose from, but it will take years before they reach Trouba's ability Jameson Taillon Jersey , if ever.

GM Kevin Cheveldayoff on trades: "Wed love to keep everybody and love to have enough cap space to sign everybody to the extensions they deserve and wed love to take another swing with the group that we have here. But theres realities in a hard cap world."

GM Kevin Cheveldayoff on trading Jacob Trouba tonight: "With the opportunity not to get a long-term deal in Winnipeg here, we just felt it was best to open up the door to the po sibility of trading him and today is the day we finalized it."

GM Kevin Cheveldayoff on Neal Pionk: "Hes a real Roberto Clemente Jersey competitive player. When you do the research on him and talk to different people about him, hes a competitor." Sees him killing penalties, po sibly on PP, po sibly in shutdown role with Josh Morri sey"

The deal marks the end of Trouba's roller-coaster tenure in Winnipeg. He and theteam had a tense relationship at times.

In 2016, he held out during negotiations after his entry-level contract expired, and at one point, he requested a trade before rescinding it and re-signing in the following months. Last season, he earned around $5.5 million on a one-year extension, and the sides hadn't made progre s this offseason toward a long-term contract.