Stamkos stay is short

In a stunning turn of events, the New York Rangers have traded center Steven Stamkos to the Vancouver Canuks.

Steven Stamkos on the deal

"To say that I am shocked would be an understatement. I was excited about joining the Rangers and continuing the push the team was on in terms of how they were playing. I wanted to be part of that. I guess they (Rangers brass) felt differently. A little disappoited for sure."

Rangers GM on the deal

"We did not make the trade to get Stamkos just so that we could turn around and trade him. It's not normal operating proceedure for the New York Rangers, however, we feel that the trade we just completed with Vancouver provides us with players that have a little more sandpaper to the team. Stamkos is an elite talent, this trade doesn't diminish his talent. He was a great player yesterday, he is a great player today and will be a great player tomorrow and for many more tomorrows, however, we feel that we wanted a different kind of player(s) on the roster taking a regular shift for this team. No knock on Steven, just we were looking for something different."

Coming to the Rangers in the deal are Ryan Kesler , Rick Nash  and Manny Malhotra