INSIDE HOCKEY

Rangers General Manager Glen Sather was a busy man Wednesday, as he made two deals in an attempt to shore up the Rangers as the playoff push intensifies.

Sather added Nik Antropov, 29, from Toronto, sending a second round and conditional draft pick Toronto’s way. Just before the deadline, he also picked up Derek Morris from Phoenix for wingers Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha, and defenseman Dmitri Kalinin.

“Antropov is a big winger, center-man. He'll help us in the goal scoring department,” Sather said. “Morris is a good, solid defenseman, he'll give us a little more bite in the back end. He can play a little bit of everything, offense, defense.”

Antropov, a 6’-6” 230 pound right wing from Russia, scored 21 goals and 25 assists over 63 games in Toronto this year, and has a career high of 26 and 30, set 2 years ago.

Morris, 30, had five goals and seven assists for the Coyotes, but saw time on the power-play, which is an area Sather was trying to improve.

“Antropov is certainly a guy with a lot of power play time,” Sather said. “He's a goal scorer, a big body. Morris is a smart player with a history of playing on the power play.”

Also on Wednesday Eric Reitz, waived earlier this week by the Rangers, was picked up by the Leafs. Aaron Voros remains on the club. Most estimates give the Rangers less than $500,000 remaining in cap space.

“We tried to add [grit] for sure. I wanted to get some scoring, some size, some grit, and some speed,” Sather said. “We’ve done that.”

Antropov, who has only played for the Leafs in his nine year NHL career, has tallied 125 goals, 166 assists, and 291 points in 509 career games. Morris, who joins his fourth NHL club, has 76 goals, 256 assists, and 332 points in a 775 game career spanning 11 seasons.