Rangers Add Beck in Minor League Swap

The Rangers have acquired forward Taylor Beck from the Edmonton Oilers in return for forward Justin Fontaine, as first reported by Sportnet’s Elliotte Friedman and confirmed by the Rangers.

Beck, 25, has 23 points in 93 career NHL games. He has bounced around the league the last few years and has struggled to prove his worth as a full-time NHLer. However, he is a dynamic player by AHL standards, with 50 points in 40 games this season. The Wolf Pack have severely lacked offensive firepower this season, and it’s rubbed off in a bad way on some of their forward prospects. Beck will add some serious playmaking ability that will benefit a number of players, but perhaps sniper Adam Tambellini the most.

Fontaine, 29, was signed by the Rangers in October and had a lukewarm tenure in Hartford. His nine goals and 21 assists over 50 games is pretty good production, but probably not as much as the Rangers had hoped Fontaine, who has almost 200 NHL games to his name, would add. Ultimately, Marek Hrivik and Nicklas Jensen rose above him on the depth chart and have been the Rangers’ preferred call-ups to fill in for injuries.