TARRYTOWN - Jeff Gorton worked the phones all summer, trying to move salary by offloading an expiring contract.

It was no secret that the New York Rangers were in a tight financial situation after signing Artemi Panarin and Jacob Trouba to big contracts, but rather than take a deal at a time when his leverage was minimal, the general manager decided to wait it out.

Finally, on Monday night, he found a trade he was comfortable with.

Gorton sent forward Vladislav Namestnikov and his $4 million contract to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenseman Nick Ebert and a 2021 fourth-round pick. The Rangers agreed to retain 18.5% of Namestnikov’s contract, worth $750,000, and will save the remaining $3.25 million.

“It’s a fair characterization to say that we tried to move some cap space in the summertime,” Gorton said following Tuesday's practice. “It just never really happened.”

“At this time, it was a move we felt like we had to make and we felt we had some depth to take care of it,” he added. “The cap room helps us going forward.”

Gorton confirmed that Ebert will be assigned to their AHL Hartford affiliate and there won’t be any corresponding call-ups to fill Namestnikov’s spot.

The Rangers will go with a 21-man roster — the NHL maximum is 23 — which leaves them with just under $4.3 million in cap space, according to CapFriendly.

“For now, we’re going to go with what we have,” Gorton said. “We’ll see where it goes from here.”

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At Monday’s practice prior to the trade, the Rangers had already moved Brendan Lemieux up to Namestnikov’s third-line spot on the left wing. That’s likely the plan for their next game 1 p.m. Saturday at home against the Edmonton Oilers.

Replacing Lemieux on the fourth line will be either Greg McKegg or Micheal Haley, both of whom were healthy scratches for the Rangers’ first two games. NHL teams can only dress 20 players per game.

“Different guys will get an opportunity,” coach David Quinn said.

Eventually, the Rangers will consider calling up one of their talented young forwards from the AHL.

Filip Chytil played 75 games for the Rangers last season and is likely first in line, but he was sent to Hartford after training camp to work on rounding out his game. Vitali Kravtsov, the Rangers’ first-round pick from 2018, is another option.

“Internally, we’ve been talking about giving guys opportunities,” Gorton said.

While the Namestnikov trade will make it easier to find ice time whenever the Rangers do make a call-up, the immediate benefit is cap flexibility.

“To be essentially one million dollars under the cap, it’s tough,” Gorton said of the situation prior to the trade. “We have a lot of different things to think about as we’re preparing to move forward with the cap.”

One of the reasons they carried less than the maximum 23 players out of training camp was because they would have had a difficult time fitting that many under the cap, and it would have been especially prohibitive if they wanted to add any players via trade during the season.

Now, the Rangers are in a better position to maneuver.

“There’s a lot of teams around the league right now that are pressed up against (the cap),” Gorton said. “Maybe there’s an opportunity for us to take advantage.”

Quinn addresses Vitali Kravtsov scratch

It was surprising when word surfaced that Kravtsov was a healthy scratch for Hartford's game Sunday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. And while the Rangers initially offered little explanation, Quinn provided some insight into the situation Tuesday.

"It's part of the development process," he said. "Everybody assumes that part of development is just putting someone out there and playing them, and that's certainly not the case. Sometimes there are areas that a player needs to be aware of that are non-negotiable. And if that doesn't happen, then you've got to take the proper steps to make sure they understand that."

While Quinn hinted there was a message they were trying to convey to Kravtsov, he said he doesn't know the specifics of why he was held out of the game. He added, "It's usually for one game and they go back in. And at 19, there's a learning opportunity for him."

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