Earlier in the day on Sunday, reports surfaced that Ottawa winger Tyler Motte was told to go home and wouldn’t be playing for trade-related reasons. Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun wrote, “Got to the rink and was told to go home. No deal completed but it’s being worked on. Mere hours later, the deal was done.

The Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers have made a trade on Sunday. The Rangers have acquired forward Tyler Motte and the Senators land Julien Gauthier and a seventh-round pick in exchange. The Senators shared the news on social media and with it noted the following trade conditions: Should the Rangers advance past the First Round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the pick will improve to the lower of the Rangers’ or the @NHLJets 2023 sixth-round selection.”

Dan Rosen of NHL.com writes, “The Rangers like Motte more than Gauthier for their 4th line. There is a comfort with him being with them last season. They love his speed and ability to PK. My two cents: Motte is exactly who I would have tried to get too. He was really good for NYR last season when healthy.”

Senators GM Pierre Dorion said of his desire to acquire Gauthier as the centerpiece asset he gets in return:

Julien Gauthier is a hard-working, good skating winger with a big body who routinely goes to the opponent’s net. His north/south game should be a nice addition to our lineup.

Motte has nine points in 38 games this season, the 27-year-old signed a one-year, $1.35 million deal with Ottawa in the offseason and is a pending UFA at the end of the year.

With this deal, the Rangers add $550K in annual cap hit and have $160.5K for remainder of season. They added Vladimir Tarasenko in a trade just last week and appear to be the busiest team so far ahead of this season’s NHL Trade Deadline.

Next: Maple Leafs and Blues Make Big Trade: Includes O’Reilly, Acciari