"John Tortorella referred Monday to the minor-league reinforcements that have helped sustain the Rangers amid a rash of injuries this season as a "lifeline, especially in a (salary) cap world."

But GM Glen Sather provided both a roster boost and some much-needed cap relief in the deal he swung Monday with former assistant Don Maloney, the GM of the Phoenix Coyotes.

With winger Alex Frolov lost for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and meniscus in his right knee, Sather scooped up talented winger Wojtek Wolski - and found a taker for veteran defenseman Michal Rozsival - in a 1-for-1 swap that clears about $1.2 million off the Rangers' salary cap and gives them further flexibility to make additional moves before the Feb. 28 trade deadline.

"It gives us an opportunity to do some things that may come up in the future, so it was a situation that was easy for us to make for a lot of reasons," Sather said on a late-afternoon conference call. "I think that the obvious reason is that we've got young defensemen progressing very well.

"We know it's a little risky. But the opportunity to do something with a 24-year old guy who's been an obvious goal-scorer and a pretty high talent, we thought it was too good of an opportunity to turn down."

According to figures from capgeek.com, the Rangers have room to add players with a cap charge of up to $4.8 million immediately, or $10.3 million if they wait until the trade deadline."