It came down to the wire, but the Rangers made the slew of moves that they were expected to make.

President and general manager Chris Drury kept his blue-chip trade assets close to his chest as the NHL’s trade deadline came and went Monday, giving up a handful of draft picks that the organization has zero need for while bolstering the Rangers on both sides of the puck.

The Rangers brought in two forwards to fortify the bottom six in the Jets’ Andrew Copp and Canucks’ Tyler Motte, while also adding Flyers defenseman Justin Braun. All three are considered rentals, but the only asset Drury gave up who has touched the ice this season was forward Morgan Barron in the Copp trade with Winnipeg.

Additionally, the Rangers traded defenseman Anthony Bitetto, who has spent the season with AHL Hartford, to the Sharks in exchange for AHL winger Nick Merkley.

“There was a certain level of comfort we were all at as a staff and we’re excited to acquire the players we did for the assets that we gave up,” Drury said in his first conference call with reporters since the season started. “It just seemed like the right deals to make for the right assets.”

To kick off the day, the Rangers acquired Braun — a pending unrestricted free agent carrying a cap hit of $1.8 million — from the Flyers in exchange for a 2023 third-round pick. The 35-year-old blue liner is a veteran of 100 playoff games and can play on the left or right side, which gives the Rangers some flexibility, but it sounded as if Drury sees Braun on the right.

After playing top-pair minutes in Philadelphia, Braun will likely slot into the third pair next to either Patrik Nemeth or Braden Schneider. Drury levied some high praise toward the 20-year-old Schneider, who made his NHL debut in mid-January and stuck in the lineup, but said it was ultimately head coach Gerard Gallant’s lineup decision.

In bolstering the forward group, the Rangers added a couple of two-way bottom-six players with offensive upsides. The Jets sent Copp and a 2023 sixth-round pick in exchange for Barron, two conditional second-round picks and a 2023 fifth-rounder.

The 2022 second-round pick the Rangers sent to Winnipeg will become a first if they reach the Eastern Conference Final and Copp plays in at least half their playoff games. The Jets will have their choice on the other second-rounder in the deal — the Blues’ 2022 pick or the Rangers’ in 2023.

With his one-year, $3.64 million deal set to expire this offseason, Copp is another low-risk addition for the Rangers. The 27-year-old has a history of being responsible on defense, but he is primarily an offensive weapon who can add some scoring punch to the bottom six.

“Copp does a lot of different things,” Drury said. “He’s on PK, PP, faceoffs, can play center, can play both wings. I think he can be used in a lot of different ways.”

The Rangers also sent a 2023 fourth-rounder to the Canucks for Motte. The 27-year-old, who is a pending UFA with a cap hit of $1.225 million, should be an effective addition to the Rangers’ forecheck.

Expect either Motte or Copp to join Barclay Goodrow as the Rangers’ top forward duo on the penalty kill. Both forwards have logged significant time on the PK this season, which will likely knock Greg McKegg out of the lineup.

“We wanted to give Turk some more pieces,” Drury said, referring to his head coach. “Obviously, goaltending has been terrific, special teams have been very good. With some of the players that we’ve lost, not only recently, but Sammy Blais for the year, we did want to give Turk and the coaches more pieces to maneuver and figure out how best to win games down the stretch here.”