The Rangers play game two of their three-game road trip tonight in Minnesota. Off a 4-1 win over Winnipeg, New York looks for their third straight victory. Following tonight’s game, the Blueshirts play the a banged-up, MASH-unit Blue Jackets on Friday. Sunday, New York has a matinee at home against Boston followed by road games Wednesday in Chicago and Friday at Carolina and a home contest Saturday against San Jose.
Note: no word yet as to who will start in net. Igor Shesterkin was not at the optional skate today, so he might just be resting as he will be starting or is sitting due to the ankle he injured Tuesday.
Update as of 1pm: Alexandar Georgiev is in net, Shesterkin, who coach David Quinn said is the #1 netminder, is sitting due to the ankle injury suffered Tuesday. If he can't go tomorrow, Henrik Lundqvist might get the nod. A bit surprised Quinn went with Georgiev and not Lundqvist, who in my opinion has still been better than Georgiev this season.
NY Post on Kreider:
“But this was never about wanting to get rid of the blue-blooded Blueshirt, but more about what his new deal would cost, and how it fit under the salary cap. As negotiations between general manager Jeff Gorton and Kreider’s agent Matt Keator have started in earnest, the ballpark of a deal is in the five- or six-year range, around $7 million per.
To make that work, there has to be some cost-cutting. That could include trading Tony DeAngelo, the offensively dynamic defenseman set for a big payday as a restricted free agent. Or there is the possibility of moving Brady Skjei, or Pavel Buchnevich, or even — gulp! — the possibility of finding an amicable way to part with the final year of Henrik Lundqvist’s deal.“
Key components of the deal will be length, dollars and no-movement or trade clause. The first two impact the construction of the team. The biggest savings would occur if Lundqvist retires after the season, freeing up $8.5 million in cap space. Unsure how likely that is, based on what we have seen from Lundqvist to date in terms of his desire to keep playing. In addition, his NMC means that Hank, in essence, controls the shots, re: a possible trade, and his tenure/status on the team and legacy within the franchise makes to me a buyout even more remote.
I know others have ranked who they would move from the list Brett Cyrgalis posted in his column. DeAngelo especially and then Buchnevich are players I would want to keep in house. Skjei, despite a better season than he has been given credit, is the prominent of that list to move, due to the others already in New York, pipeline in place and belief he will be exposed in the expansion draft. Marc Staal is another player who could be dealt, though his NMC gives him control, and he too, even more so than Skjei, has had a very solid year while paired with ADA. Brendan Smith, who will be on the final year of his deal and has lost his lineup spot to Phil Di Giuseppe and penalty kill role to Ryan Lindgren is a buyout/trad candidate.
Playoff race:
Right now, the Rangers are “full steam ahead” in terms of remaining in playoff contention. This doesn’t mean they will be buyers but continued solid play could impact their willingness and desire to be sellers of players such as Jesper Fast, Ryan Strome, Alexandar Georgiev, Smith, Staal and/or Kreider. If looking to move one, as others have said, Strome may be at risk, especially if the prevailing view is that he is a product of playing alongside Artemi Panarin. Though any such change may be more likely to occur after the season.
New York has 60 points in 56 games. Columbus is in the first Wild Card with 70 points in 57 games and Philly has the second Wild Card with one less point in as many games:
- Columbus has major injuries, especially Seth Jones. that they can’t replace. They have withstood player absences all season, including Joonas Korpisalo, replaced by Elvis Merzlikins, Cam Atkinson, Josh Anderson, Alexander Wennberg and Ryan Murray, all still out, and Oliver Bjorkstrand, missed time earlier this season. This is why John Tortorella should be a Jack Adams finalist. Hard to believe they can find a way to win with all the injuries, but they have been resilient.
- Philadelphia got excellent play from Bruan Elliott with Carter Hart sidelined and has incorporated Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost in the mix. The Ghost has been invisible and their D has been an issue at times, but the blue line has been improved lately. Up front, Kevin Hayes and JVR both got off to slow starts, but they have balanced scoring. Rangers have 3 games vs. Philly, which might play a huge role in deciding the playoff picture down the stretch.
- Carolina is seven points above New York who has a game in hand but is missing Dougie Hamilton and a brutal schedule (4 games vs Pens next month). In addition, the big three TT, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov could carry the team offensively while James Reimer may have surpassed Petr Mrazek in net. Look for Jaccob Slavin and Jake Gardiner, who has been a major disappointment until lately, to pick up some of the slack with Hamilton out and the Hurricanes to be aggressive at the trade deadline.
As Slimtj noted, those three teams are catchable. If Shesterkin continues to play as he has, the D’s improvement is not an aberration and Panarin is pre-All-Star break Panarin, the team has a shot. Remote, based on record likely needed, but a shot. Granted, the goal was improvement, which we have seen, but now that they are in some semblance of striking distance, hard not to think of a possible postseason berth. But if the Rangers slip over the next week, then all bets are off and deals to move players out are more likely to happen.
My video podcast this week:
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