The Rangers have locked in Urho Vaakanainen, who had been set to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

New York and the defenseman have agreed to a two-year extension through the 2026-27 season, the team announced.

The deal is worth $1.55 million annually.

Vaakanainen, 26, was acquired by the Rangers from the Ducks in the Jacob Trouba trade on Dec. 6.

Since joining the Rangers, Vaakanainen has two goals and seven assists and a plus/minus of +14 in 30 games.

During his seven-year NHL career with the Bruins, Ducks, and Rangers, Vaakanainen has three goals, 31 assists, and a plus/minus of +54 in 171 regular season games.

Blueshirts trade for Nicolas Aube-Kubel

As the NHL trade deadline passed, the Rangers are completing a deal with the Buffalo Sabres to acquire forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel.

Aube-Kubel, 28, has appeared in 19 games this season with the Sabres tallying a goal and an assist while posting a -4 in 9:32 of ice time. He appeared in 60 games last year for the Washington Capitals and had 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) as a +4 in 12:12 of time on the ice.

He does have 30 games of Stanley Cup Playoffs experience, and he totaled 145:14 time on the ice over 14 games during the Colorado Avalanche's run to the Stanley Cup in 2021-22. He was a +2 in that span but failed to register a point.

The Blueshirts will send defenseman Erik Brannstrom to Buffalo to complete the deal. The Swede has not appeared in a game for the Rangers since he arrived in a Jan. 31 deal that brought JT Miller back to New York from Vancouver.

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