2024 Report Card: Alex Wennberg

Expectations:

On March 6th, the New York Rangers acquired two-way Centerman Alex Wennberg from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a pair of draft picks. Their 2024 2nd round pick as well as their conditional 2025 4th round pick that originally belonged to the Dallas Stars as part of the Nils Lundkvist trade. Up to that point, Wennberg had registered 9 goals and 16 assists for a total of 25 points across 60 games with the Kraken. Not the most impressive numbers for a former 14th overall draft pick, but in terms of being a third line center for a Cup contending team, he was just what the doctor ordered. At least on paper. 

Nevertheless, it was a trade that made good sense for the Rangers and one that the player involved was quite excited about. 

Performance:

19 GP, 1 Goal, 4 Assists

As a primarily defensive minded player, Wennberg wasn’t brought to the Rangers to score a bunch of goals or to put up a ton of points. He was brought on to be a more stable replacement to the third line center void left by Filip Chytil and his injury-riddled season. In addition to that, it was hoped that his skill set and the 693 career games he had under his belt would help the Rangers become a more well-rounded team in preparation for a lengthy playoff run. This also benefited special teams as Wennberg was able to kill penalties and strengthen the second power play unit. 

Wennberg made his NYR debut just three days after the trade on the third line with Will Cuylle and Jimmy Vesey. In which, he picked up the secondary assist on Kaapo Kakko’s power play goal that capped off a 4-0 win at home over the St. Louis Blues. Wennberg got off to a hot start in New York with a goal and three assists in his first seven games, but cooled down pretty drastically in terms of point production. It’s never an easy task to come in at the trade deadline and make an immediate, noteworthy impact on the nightly scoresheet. Alas, in Wennberg’s case there was plenty of underlying use to his role on this team. 

While they didn’t always contribute significantly on the scoreboard, when Kaapo Kakko settled onto that line with Wennberg and Cuylle, they really became an exciting trio to watch on a nightly basis. Their ability to forecheck with aggression, move the puck around and maintain offensive zone possession was a real bright spot for this new and improved Rangers squad. It’s unfortunate that it didn’t translate into as many goals as it did scoring chances as there really was potential for something great on that third line. 

In 16 playoff games with the Blueshirt’s, Wennberg tallied a total of one goal and one assist. While he wasn’t a frequent goal scorer, his lone goal proved to be a memorable one as it came in the form of an overtime winning goal in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals to give the Rangers a series lead against the Florida Panthers. 

Of course that would pretty much be the final highlight of the Rangers 2024 Playoff run. *sigh* The Rangers were eliminated two games later thus putting an end to Alex Wennberg’s run in New York. His final game came with a promotion as Peter Laviolette and the Coaching Staff tried him on the right side of Zibanejad and Kreider on the top line. Looking back, you can certainly label it a bit of a desperation move, as it was certainly an odd decision for a player who was typically an exclusive center. 

Wennberg did enjoy his time in New York and even mentioned throughout locker clean out day that he was open to staying a Ranger. Of course everyone wants to stay a Ranger until they realize it’s either take a pay cut to stay or go make your money on the open market. Sure enough, Wennberg absolutely made his money and signed a two-year deal in San Jose with an annual-average-value of $5 million. 

Author Grade: C

Banter Consensus: C

Final Evaluation

You’re always taking a gamble when you buy at the trade deadline. Was Wennberg the best third line center target for the Rangers? It’s tough to say, especially when there were other candidates on the trade market that went on to make it further than the Rangers did in the playoffs. (Adam Henrique) Although as we all know, hindsight is twenty-twenty. Given what the Rangers gave up to get Wennberg, the position they were in and all other factors considered, it’s a trade you have to think the Rangers make nine times out of ten. All we can do now is thank Wennberg for the memories and wish him the best of luck in San Jose.