Lemiuex was officially suspended for two games today. If this was the regulation season, he might have gotten four games. it was a stupid penalty then, completely unneeded, and now means he will sit for two games in the play-in round.

NY Rangers’ Brendan Lemieux has been suspended for two Stanley Cup Qualifying games for interference on Colorado’s Joonas Donskoi. https://t.co/H3C0ZFD4f1

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) July 20, 2020

What I wrote in my evaluation of Lemiuex on April 2:

The one piece of good news is that Lemieux's so-so campaign should result in a lower salary increase next season. Signed to the minimum this year due to no arbitration rights, Lemieux, like Tony DeAngelo, bet on himself by taking a one-year deal. Despite having arb rights this off-season, I would not expect Lemieux's salary to rise much. Maybe he goes from 925K to $1.2-1.5 million, but no higher and it's quite likely he ends up at the lower end of that range.

Lemieux needs to come to camp in great shape and prove that he belongs in the lineup nightly as well as in a prominent role. This past year was not a good one for the agitative forward. For Lemieux to retain his roster spot, 2020-21 must be a lot better.

With Lemiuex out, look for Greg McKegg to skate on a line with Brett Howden, each of whom can play center and wing. Julien Gauthier right now is the off-wing with that duo, but he could move up to the third line, replaced by Phil Di Giuseppe, who currently is the right wing next to Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil. His cap hit is likely to be cheap enough to keep him for at least one more season. But a second straight poor campaign and Lemiuex might be looking for another organization.

Kevin Weekes picked two lower-seeded teams that he believes can make a deep playoff run while on the NHL Network. I am running this here because we all know what one of those teams are. If you need some help, it's the Rangers. The other team is the Blackhawks, which to me will only be the case if Corey Crawford is fully healthy, and even then, I am still not sure that will happen against the Oilers.

.@KevinWeekes picks 2 lower-seeded teams that can make a deep playoff run. #NHLTonight pic.twitter.com/8P4KXeYrts

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) July 19, 2020

Balanced scoring is one of the keys to the Rangers success this year. Seven players - Panarin, Zibanejad, Strome, DeAngelo, Buchnevich, Kreider and Fox - tallied over 40 points. That's five of the top six and the team's two best offensive d-men. To me, the key will be for Kakko and Filip Chytil or a sleeper like Gauthier to provide scoring to supplement the big five up front.

No "I" in team. pic.twitter.com/mehNnsE7PZ

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 20, 2020

Vote for the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award. Could Zib win it, Breadman, Lindgren, maybe Fox? What say you?

Who will it be this year? It's in your hands.

You have until July 24th to vote on the 2020 recipient of the @NorthwellHealth Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award ➡️ https://t.co/ZfnuZaNk2N pic.twitter.com/1QLeS0zCHW

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) July 20, 2020

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