New York, March 29, 2012 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has assigned defenseman Tim Erixon to the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League (AHL).
Erixon, 21, recorded two assists in five games following his recall from Connecticut on March 17, and has tallied two assists in 18 games with the Rangers this season. He made his NHL debut on October 7 against Los Angeles as part of the 2011 NHL Premiere in Stockholm, Sweden, and tallied his first career point with an assist on March 23 vs. Buffalo.
He returns to Connecticut where he has registered three goals and 30 assists for 33 points, along with 36 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating in 43 games this season. Erixon led all AHL rookie defensemen in assists and ranked third in points at the time of his recall on March 17. He leads all team defensemen in points and assists, ranks third on Connecticut overall in assists and sixth in points. Erixon has tallied eight points (one goal and seven assists) in his last nine games with Connecticut, and has recorded one goal and five assists in six AHL contests during the month of March. He has posted eight multi-point efforts, including a career-high, three-assist performance on November 23 vs. Portland, and recorded a season-high, four-game assist streak from February 4 at Hershey to February 11 at Manchester, tallying five assists over the span. Erixon registered an assist while making his AHL debut on November 2 at Bridgeport, and notched his first career AHL goal, a power play tally, on November 12 at St. John’s.
The Port Chester, New York native was acquired by the Rangers from Calgary, along with a fifth round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft (Shane McColgan), in exchange for Roman Horak and two, second round picks in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft (Markus Granlund, Tyler Wotherspoon) on June 1, 2011. He was originally selected by Calgary as a first round choice, 23rd overall, in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
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