The Rangers return to action at MSG on Tuesday, facing the Oilers for the second time in four days. The match up in Edmonton saw the Blueshirts rally from 3-1 and 5-3 deficits to tie the game, only to loss the goal on a poor defensive play 12 seconds after knotting the game at five. The 0-fer Western Canada trip had immediate ramifications with a player move yesterday.

Jarret Stoll, who took a delay of game penalty Wednesday that led to one of the goals against Vancouver and also was guilty of whiffing against Taylor Hall resulting in the GWG against Edmonton, was placed on waivers Monday. The rationale for that move was two-fold. First, Stoll has struggled throughout the season trying to adapt to playing wing after spending his whole career at a pivot man. The Rangers had been using Dominic Moore at wing as well, but he too is better suited to playing center, creating a problem in two spots. In addition, if Stoll does pass through waivers, he can be sent to the AHL, clearing 800k in cap room. It's also quite possible that Stoll is claimed, which obviously also would clear the cap room.

I got into a bit of a Twitter war yesterday on this move. On the face of it, the move makes sense. Tanner Glass for now has shown he deserves to stick. Also, this might give Emerson Etem a real shot at playing time, which wasn't happening with Stoll there. But, you could make an argument that Etem or Glass could be exposed to waivers again to be sent down, though there is a decent possibility each would get claimed. If Glass was, that would enable NY to clear up $1.45 mil or cap room, but we know AV is a big fan. Plus he has played well enough since getting called backed up that NY may not want to lose him even though many of us would be okay with that occurring. If Etem was placed on waivers, it would be a clear signal and further evidence that the haul for Carl Hagelin, which to me had to occur because of the cap impact and did tied a pretty god prospect, did not pan out on the parent club level due to Etem's struggles. Also, with the news that Derek Stepan may be back soon from his rib injury and the need for the roster spot along with maintaining some cap space room for the future.

But Stoll isn't making a ton of cash. While every dollar matters, the cap impact isn't huge. Plus, Stoll is the kind of player and depth you like having later in the season heading into the playoffs. With Moore solid between the dots, the improvement of Derick Brassard here and presence of Oscar Lindberg in the lineup, NY is better on face offs. But as we have seen Kevin Hayes is horrific there and Stepan is not elite, so why not have an extra centerman who you can put on late in a game giving the team a hedge in case someone gets thrown out of a draw? Stoll was struggling and chafing at playing wing but to me, he was a nice depth piece go have around.

The other personnel move was the announcement that Dan Girardi will miss tonight's game with swelling in his knee. Girardi was injured blocking a shot in the third period against Vancouver and played the final two games of the road trip, during which he was horrible, with the injury. My biggest problem is how does the team not call someone up and fly him out to Edmonton, enabling Girardi to sit. Cap space is at a premium but did the failure to make the right move cost NY two games, especially with how poor Girardi played?

Girardi is an iron man, playing in 682 of a possible 687 regular-season games in his career. So we know how reluctant he is to come out of the lineup. We don't know if this will just be a one-game absence, which might impact who gets promoted.

If it's just one-game, the Rangers might opt to promote Chris Summers, figuring that for just the one game, go with the veteran. If longer, Brady Skjei could get the call, since he would have a chance to really get his feet wet with consistent playing time. Of course, you could argue that giving Skjei one game to give him a taste of NHL action could make more sense than Summers. If it is Summers, Ryan McDonagh might move to the right side though AV could elect to play Summers, a lefty d-man on that side. If it is Skjei, McDonagh will move to the right side, where he played in the Olympics. Raphael Diaz would have been the first choice to be promoted but he is injured, which is why the choice is now Summers or Skjei.

Even if Girardi is out a few games, NY might not be short handed as Kevin Klein, who was to miss 2-3 weeks with a strained oblique, is close to returning. Klein, injured November 30, has skated the past three days and could be back for the Rangers upcoming short road trip. With the cap clearance from Stoll and possible return of Klein, I would get Skjei's feet wet by promoting him to play tonight. We will know around mid-morning what will happen.

While Pittsburgh was able to move Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley, the two contracts matched up with one another facilitating the move. Personally, I think Pitt fleeced Chicago in that trade getting a solid offensive d-man. Why do I bring this up? Because I have some say that because Scuderi was move, G should be movable. Two totally different contract. Scuderi was at about $3.0 mil this year and $2.5 next year. Girardi is at $5.875 mil for five more years. The two players are not comparable because of that, making G, who has a NMC for a bit longer, even more difficult to trade.

Stepan, out since November 27 with broken ribs, was to miss 4-to-6 weeks. When first injured, the thought process of many of us was to put him on LTIR because he was going to miss 10 games and 24 days. Now, the decision not to do appears prescient as Stepan, who like Klein has been skating the past three days and also participated in a non-contact jersey in practice Monday, might beat each of those timeframes. The Rangers desperately miss him, and as noted above, the decision to waive Stoll might have also been based on his upcoming return.

I would love to call this a revenge game after last Friday's debacle against Edmonton. But the Rangers desperately need a win regardless of who is on the schedule. Find a way to get a victory, end this losing streak and head on the road trip on a positive note.

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