Zdeno Chara traded

The rumors have been confirmed. The Rangers have traded huge defenceman Zdeno Chara to the Minnesota Wild for defenceman Brian Rafalski and a prospect.

"We feel that while Chara add a great deal to any team he's on, having a much more mobil defenceman in Rafalski can better keep up with our speedier forwards. Chara provided that element of physicality that we like, but we feel that the team is not lacking in that department and we wanted to get a little more mobil."

"The fact that Rafalski is signed for another year may prove to be a bit of a roadblock in trying to do some things during the off-season, but we will address those issues when they actually arise. Right now we are happy with the trade as we feel it addresses an area we feel we wanted to address."