Showtime at MSG proved to be a dud, as the Rangers fell 5-3 to the Senators in Patrick Kane's debut. Kane, not surprisingly, showed some rust and chemistry will need to be built. The good news is after Saturday's contest in Boston, New York has four days off to practice before their next game. On the flip side, the stretch run has the team playing 19 games in 36 days, which may be challenging on a team with no depth after all their trades. Derick Brassard, in his 1,000 career game, scored twice against his former team.
Game recap:
A few thoughts:
1)
Kane clearly lengthens the top-six and gives the team another prime scoring option. Vladimir Tarasenko took a bit of time to settle in - yes, he scored on his first shot for the team - and it should be the same for Kane. We saw snippets and moments of what Kane can do and the chemistry that used to exist between him and Artmei Panarin. Moving forward, the expectation and hope is that this moves from snippets and moments to a constant state.
On the
power play, Kane was inserted at the right circle, with Adam Fox at the point, Chris Kreider at the net front, Panarin in the left circle and Mika Zibanejad in the bumper. As a result of Kane joining, the second now is mainly Filip Chytil, Kakko Kaapo, Vincent Trocheck, Tarasenko and Jacob Trouba with Alexis Lafreniere the odd-man out. Overpassing and trying to set up Kane were the hallmarks of the man advantage last night. One major contributor in the loss was that power play collectively went 0-for-4 across a total of 11 minutes.
2)
Defense - yucch. If there is a concern - or at least one of those concerns - in adding Tarasenko and Kane, it's that neither are known for their commitment to defense. The Rangers' system, like most if not all - require the forwards to backcheck, help limit space in the neutral zone, and especially, get back and provide structure in their own zone. Last night, as noted by coach Gerard Gallant, that was far from the case, with Ottawa beating New York down low and taking advantage of several turnovers, an issue since the All-Star break.
"There was some good stuff," Gallant said. "Panarin and him had some chemistry right away. They made some really good plays, but the bottom line is when you play a game of hockey for 60 minutes, you've got to do more stuff than just make the real nice passes. We've got to reset some pucks. We’ve got to get better forechecking, more pressure. … We’ve got to play more below the goal line and stuff like that, because it was too wide open."
While the forwards certainly didn't help matters, the blue line was far from good as well. Granted, they were playing shorthanded again, but unsure that was the driving factor from yesterday's struggles. Niko Mikkola and Ben Harpur did not have good games and look to be better suited for depth roles, which is a problem, as one is the sixth d-man when all are healthy.
"It looked like we were tired back there with the five (defensemen), but that wasn't the case," Gallant said. "I don't think of our low forwards did a good enough job, to be totally honest with you. When you look at the goals, you could say, 'Well, there was five D rotating a lot.' But I don't think that was the issue. I think it was our low forwards didn't do a good job down low. ... We let a couple guys get away from bad coverage."
The good news is K'Andre Miller is back from his three-game suspension after the Bruins game. Unfortunately right now, we have no idea as to how long Ryan Lindgren will remain sidelined due to his shoulder injury. Lindgren could play Saturday or Thursday or end up on IR or LTIR. If the latter happens, or is a strong possibility, despite the lack of cap space and due to the few minor league ready options, could GM Chris Drury try and nab a veteran blueliner?
3)
Tyler Motte was knocked out of the game at the 12:49 mark of the first period by a crunching, illegal hit from Auston Watson. Watson extended his elbow up high and slammed Motte's head into the boards, forcing him to leave the game with an upper-body injury. All signs point to Motte possibly having a concussion, and at a minimum, landing in the concussion protocol process.
Motte's injury brings to fore the cap issues we have discussed and seen the last week in the shorthanded lineups. As noted by Vince Mercogliano and Mollie Walker, the Rangers don't have enough salary cap space to call anyone up from the minors, but they attempted to use the NHL's roster emergency exception. The collective bargaining agreement states that any team can make that request after playing one game with fewer than 18 skaters (12 forwards and six defensemen) due to injury or suspension, which they seem to be eligible for.
According to a league source, it was determined that they did not qualify because they had enough cap space to fill those voids before trading for Kane. Since the team was aware of Lindgren's injury and Miller's suspension and still opted to use their cap space on the trade, rather than making regular recalls to complete their lineup, their request for an emergency recall was denied. This view and ruling probably should have come as much of a shock, since the Rangers created the cap issues of their own volition.
It is believed that the Rangers won’t be able to add another player until Lindgren is healthy or Miller returns from his suspension, whichever comes first. Even then, they’ll have to play one game a man short before they can call up a player making $850,000 or less under the emergency rule. That removes Zac Jones and his $925,000 cap hit as an option. If Motte is unable to play Saturday at Boston, the Rangers could be two men short. It’s unclear if the NHL will consider that the first game of an emergency situation, or if the Rangers must wait until Miller or Lindgren returns.
This is why during the season, using the off-days to send players down to accrue cap space was suggested. Granted, not great for the player or the optics, but if those "paper moves" had resulted in another 500-750K available, New York would be able to possibly make a deal for fourth line player or d-man who makes under $1 mil and whose team would be able to eat half the salary. Edmonton just did this when they acquired Nick Bjugstad - who would have been a great fit - with Arizona assuming half the cap hit. the Oilers had 451K available and Bjugstad, with salary assumption, came in at 450K.
If an emergency move is allowed, Will Cuylle, Jake Leschyshyn and Jonny Brodzinski all could be options. Each of the three make under 850K. Will Lockwood, acquired in deal for the Vitali Kravtsov, who looked pretty good yesterday, also is an option. For now, though, we wait to hear about Motte's status. If going the trade route, cheap future UFA in terms of contract $ and possibly available include Derek Grant, Christian Fischer and Mark Jankowski.
4)
Overall - We will soon see if a potent offense can make up for subpar defense. In the regular season, this may work. Come playoff time when space is limited and checking is escalated, will New York be able to out-skill opponents? The top-nine is made up of skill with little snarl and grit, That's not to say that the players are soft, but their games are predicated on using their talent not their physicality. The fourth line is not one that flips the game or is heavy on opponents. They can and should be effective but the trio is not known for their style of play, forcing the opposition to adjust. Clearly the hope is that the top-nine overwhelms whoever they face, the fourth line chips in to balance out the lineup and the D can stand up on it's own. Time will tell if that is the case.
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