According to Larry Brooks of the NY Post, the Rangers have had preliminary discussions with the Columbus Blue Jackets, regarding the services of Rick Nash. Now this doesn't mean that any sort of deal is on the way to bring the winger on the Broadway, but there have been talks.

Brooks goes on to say a package of Brandon Dubinsky, Chris Kreider, and a first overall draft pick will be part of what it takes to acquire Nash. But in my opinion, that deal makes me want to walk away before talks even begin heating up. Chris Kreider has been an up and coming prospect, the type the Rangers haven't had in their organization for quite a while.

Some say that it's not enough to land Nash, but in my honest opinion, it would be overpaying. As I said before with Kreider, the kid has proven himself on both the international level, and with Boston College over the last few years. I'm still on the fence about giving up Brandon Dubinsky as well.

Brandon Dubinsky has been with the organization for quite some time, and you can tell his heart is on Broadway. Despite some scoring issues this season, Dubinsky never gives up heart, and is a workhorse. If Dubinsky goes to Columbus for Nash, I honestly think part of the Rangers identity will disappear. As it stands right now, I would not even consider accepting that deal.

What do you guys think?

The New York Rangers confirmed this morning that forward, Ruslan Fedotenko has made the trip to Boston with the team. Fedotenko was knocked out of the game in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 9th, in which the Rangers won in overtime.

At first the hit that injuried Fedotenko looked to be an intentional head shot by Dominic Moore, but it was later seen as a stick that hit him in the face. However, it is good news to see Fedotenko say that he is doing better, and making the trip up to Boston. In his absence, Stu Bickel has been playing forward the last two games, the first time since High School.

Ryan McDonagh also spoke following the Rangers 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals. He stated that he just tweaked his leg a little bit after scoring the goal that put the Rangers up 2-1. He also says that he has had the same injury in the past, and that he will fine to play against the Bruins on Tuesday.

So long Mr. Invisible, we hardly knew ye. Erik Christensen has been traded to the Minnesota Wild for AHL forward Casey Wellman. Wellman will report to the Connecticut Whale, while it is unknown whether or not Christensen will join the NHL Wild yet.

Christensen, known for his shootout talents, last played for the Rangers on December 17th, and recently was demoted to the AHL for a "conditioning stint." While he earned the nickname "Mr. Invisible" for his amazing ability to be unnoticeable on the ice when he did play, he handled the situation when he did not play extremely well.

Wellman, 24, is a center, that has played 41 games in the NHL in his career, scoring four goals and assisting on nine more. You can see his NHL.com profile here. Hockey Wilderness, the Wild SB Nation Blog, wrote about Wellman here

This season in the AHL, Wellman has scored fourteen goals and assisted on twelve goals, in addition to 21 penalty minutes.

The 7th round pick is conditional, and this is likely a salary cap relief move for the Rangers.

According to reports, Erik Christensen has been traded along with a 7th round pick to the Minnesota Wild for Casey Wellman

Wellman's NHL page.

Here's a story Hockey Wilderness did on Wellman in December.

More later, just wanted to get the news up for you.

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The New York Rangers announced that they have assigned forward, Wojtek Wolski, and defenseman, Jeff Woywitka to the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League. Wolski has remained a healthy scratch since he played two games in the presence of Brandon Dubinsky. Woywitka has been sitting ever since the recent injury to Steve Eminger, and the recall of Stu Bickel.

Erik Christensen just recently finished his conditioning stint down in Connecticut, and still remains a healthy scratch after returning. This is obviously to get the two of them back in game shape, in the event of another injury, or someone else is a healthy scratch.

It has been rumored that either Wojtek Wolski and/or Erik Christensen would be available come the trade deadline, and this could stur the pot even more. We will continue to update everyone on the recent news, as we slowly approach the deadline. Speaking of trades, check out Kevin's article, which looks at some players the Rangers should look at, come the trade deadline.

During the entire weekend of festivities, Henrik Lundqvist and Marian Gaborik were in a heated battle over the All-Star game. Marian Gaborik was saying that he would score on Lundqvist, and Lundqvist said he was going to shut him down. Of course, it was all in good fun, and only added more to the already exciting game.

Marian Gaborik would eventually score a hat trick along with an assist for a four point night. Two of the goals would come against Henrik Lundqvist, who obviously wasn't too thrilled that Gaborik put not one, but two pucks past him. From that point on, along with many other Ranger fans, we were all pulling for Gaborik to get the MVP.

Sure enough, following the game, it was announced that Gaborik had indeed won MVP, along $25,000 to donate to a charity of his choice. It was great to see Gaborik bounce back from last season, and even show up some of the league's best in Ottawa. Hopefully these are early signs of a late season surge from Gaborik. Not that he hasn't already been amazing this season or anything.

With just under two hours until the 2012 Skills Competition kicks off, we thought it would be a good idea to post up who will be participating in what. As if it isn't already known, the Rangers will be represented by Marian Gaborik, Carl Hagelin, Dan Girardi and Henrik Lundqvist tonight.

When you look at those names, it's pretty much a dead giveaway that Hagelin will be participating the fastest skater competition. Hagelin will also be the lead-off man for the Tim Hortons NHL Elimination Shootout, which should be interesting as well.

Marian Gaborik will be appearing in two events tonight, which will be the G Series NHL Skills Challenge Relay, in which he will take on the role of the target shooter. He will also appear in the Tim Horton's Elimination Shootout, and he will shoot in the number six spot.

We come to Dan Girardi who will be one of the four passers for Team Alfredsson in the Accuracy Shooting competition. Finally we come to Henrik Lundqvist who will only be participating in the final event, which will be the Tim Horton's Elimination Shootout. He will be the starting goalie for the competition as well.

For the full list of which players will be playing where, john us after the jump.

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Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers is the latest addition to the 2012 NHL All-Star game. With the recent injuries to Adam Larsson and Adam Henrique, Carl Hagelin has been called in as a replacement for the All-Stars rookie team. I was actually surprised to see that Hagelin did not make the initial roster created by the National Hockey League.

This now marks four New York Rangers players that will be heading to Ottawa, along with head coach John Tortorella, not bad huh? It's also disappointing to see that the NHL is not bringing back the young stars game, which was also absent from last year's All-Star game as well.

I for one and really excited to see Carl Hagelin compete in the fastest skater competition, who seriously has a chance at beating him? He's just that ridiculously fast. Ever since his recall, 29 games ago, Hagelin has been an instant success, and has been flying. It is great to see him get a chance at this year's All-Star game, and we want to wish him the best of luck!