Keyboard Quarterbacks

2:57 p.m. The Rangers made their first trade of the deadline, acquiring defenseman Christian Backman from St. Louis for a fourth round pick.

4:58 p.m. Analysis: Well, this isn't quite the big move Rangers fans were hoping for, but they did manage to add a useful NHL player without giving up anything off their active roster.

Backstrom, 27, recently came back from a left foot injury that kept him sidelined for 10 games. When healthy, Backstrom is a decent defensive defenseman who can give the Rangers some depth. He has 10 points in 45 games this year.

It's hard to say what this means for Rangers defensemen Marek Malik, Paul Mara and Jason Strudwick, all of whom could lose a lineup spot with this acquisition, depending on how Tom Renney wants to use Backman.

One interesting note: Backman played on the same Swedish championship team as Henrik Lundqvist during the 2004-05 lockout and on the same Swedish team that won the gold medal in the 2006 Olympics. So there's some familiarity there on Lundqvist's part.

For more on Backman, read Steve Zipays's blog.