Rangers’ Vlad Namestnikov has surged into trade-bait discussion

Not too long ago, there wasn’t a huge gap between Vlad Namestnikov and Ryan Spooner. Boy, how things changed in just two months.

Both Rangers players were add-ons to deals at last season’s trade deadline, and both were signed by the Blueshirts this summer as restricted free agents to matching two-year, $8 million deals. Yet on Nov. 16, Spooner was shipped to Edmonton in a straight-up trade for Ryan Strome, while Namestnikov is now playing his most assertive hockey in his short tenure on Broadway, raising his value — both internally and as a possible trade piece — with each passing game.

“He’s really been a good player for the last two months,” coach David Quinn said after Tuesday’s 3-1 win over the tired Ducks, his team getting Wednesday off before beginning to prepare for Saturday’s match in Toronto.

“He and I have talked. He’s been more physical, obviously, and played with more edge. But this is a guy that with some skill, too, and I don’t want that to get lost in how hard he’s been playing. He and I have talked about that — we’re not trying to turn him into a fourth-line checker.

“He’s a guy that can create offense with his speed, and he’s got good hands and he can shoot it. So if you add that physical element that he’s had, being hard on pucks, he’s going to be more productive offensively and be able to play in different roles. That’s what he’s done.”

Most notably, Namestnikov got into an altercation with hulking Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf late in the first period on Tuesday, when Getzlaf pummeled him after a whistle and Namestnikov did what he could to stick up for himself. Going 6-foot-4, 225, against 6-foot, 180, was not a fair fight — but Namestnikov showed some guts in pushing back, especially in light of the concussion he suffered that kept him out of three games just two weeks ago.

“He just came in and wasn’t happy that I was trying to score, I guess,” said Namestnikov, who did score the game-tying goal, his fourth of the season, midway through the third period on a slick one-timer off the rush. “As a team, we’re not going to let anyone push us around. We’re going to protect our territory.”

Maybe it’s a little unfair to put Namestnikov and Spooner in the same category, as the former came over as part of the Ryan McDonagh-J.T. Miller deal with the Lightning after he had spent the better part of that season scoring goals by the bushel while on the top line with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. But Tampa Bay was going to have to shed salary somewhere if it wanted to re-sign both McDonagh and Miller — which it did — so Namestnikov, as a pending restricted free agent due for a nice payday, was sent away.

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He was understandably underwhelming in his month-plus audition on Broadway, playing for a team that was in disarray and for a coach in Alain Vigneault who was fired hours after the final game of the season. But he must have shown enough for general manager Jeff Gorton to give him this nice bridge deal, betting he could turn it around.

And the first month of this season was not so promising, either. Forget the production — one goal and two assists through his first 12 games. He was a non-factor in most games, even a healthy scratch in the second game of the year.

“I knew I needed to be better at the beginning of the year,” Namestnikov said, having had a conversation around that time with Quinn about bringing a more physical edge. “So just kind of re-looked [at] my game, and that’s how I needed to better. I think when I play with that little edge, I think I’m a better player. I just have to keep working hard and improving on all areas.”

It has turned him into not just a productive player for the Rangers as they try to figure out what they have to build on going forward, but also a possible trade piece if the right deal comes along before the Feb. 25 deadline.

“He’s a good player, he’s a great kid, love having him here, and he’s a good teammate,” Quinn said. “So we’re lucky to have him.”