In a somewhat surprising move, the Rangers sent D Matt Gilroy down to Hartford today and decided to keep D Ilkka Heikkinen on the team.

The move was made necessary with D Wade Redden returning from a shoulder injury last night. The 25-year-old Gilroy has four goals and two assists while playing in all 30 games this season.

The Rangers backup goalie carousel also continued today with Chad Johnson going back to Hartford and Matt Zaba joining the Blueshirts. Johnson was called up on Dec. 2 to replace the struggling Stephen Valiquette , but did not appear between the pipes for the Rangers.

Zaba, 26, has appeared in eight games with the Wolfpack this season, posting a 1-2-1 record with a 4.16 goals against average and .867 save percentage.