xThe Rangers outplayed the Maple Leafs last night but fell 3-2. New York likely deserved the win, yet was on the right side of the score. Despite the defeat, the Blueshirts still remain in playoff contention. GM Chris Drury continued to remake the team, dealing Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey to the Avalanche for conditional second and fourth round picks this year along with Calvin de Haan and Jusso Parsinnen.
Game recap:
Lines versus Maple Leafs:
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière
Cuylle-Miller-Zibanejad
Vesey-Carrick-Smith
Othmann-Brodzinski-Rempe
K'Andre Miller-Will Borgen.
Ryan Lindgren-Urho Vaakanainen
Zac Jones- Braden Schneider.
Shesterkin
Quick
A few thoughts:
1) The Rangers allowed just 17 shots, their lowest of the season, yet lost. Igor Shesterkin was good, but not good enough. We have spoken a lot about making the key save at the key moment. Shesterkin has picked up his play recently, however, he needs to take his game to that Vezina level. Easy to blame him for the failed clear, yet the two d-men were out of position and the front of the net happened to be opened. The second goal against was a slight mental lapse defensively and the team as a whole, can't take a too many men on the ice penalty.
2) Minutes: we know that Peter Laviolette likes to chase goals when down a goal. But the third and fourth line won the game against the Islanders. As such, give those units ice time to see if their forecheck can result in a scoring chance or tied game. As seen from the below, the fourth line barely saw the ice.
Othmann - 3 shots, 2 hits, 6:31 TOI
Rempe - 0 shots, 1 hit 4:12 TOI
Brodzinski - 1 shot, 1 hit 7:31 TOI
3) One positive was the JT Miller, Mika Zibanejad and Will Cuylle line. Maybe there is some magic to be made there. The second line of Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere was good in the third period, invisible the first two. Unfortunately. Laf has been invisible since signing his extension. If New York fails to make the playoffs, we will look back at what we all thought we were seeing in Laf and expected to be the case the remainder of the year and was not.
Rangers trade Lindgren and Vesey to the Avalanche:
The second-round pick will be the better choice between Carolina's or the Rangers' original pick, which they sent to Utah (formerly Arizona) in a 2022 trade to offload the Patrik Nemeth contract. The fourth-round pick will the better between Colorado's and Vancouver's.
I think we all knew both would be dealt by the deadline. Lindgren's play had tailed off due to the massive minutes he had in his career and his warrior mentality on the ice. It;s become almost too easy and de riguer to bash Lindgren, who left it all on the ice game in and game out. But he has broken down physically and was not going to be re-signed. Vesey showed the ability to move up and down the lineup, but he has been a healthy scratch for stretches during the season. Once a scorer, Vesey remade his game to become a solid checking winger who was a good penalty killer.
Both players should fit in Colorado. Lindgren should benefit from playing fewer minutes against less difficult competition in Colorado, who can shelter him a bit, given how much of the load Cale Makar and Devon Toews carry. Plus, he brings his warrior, gritty mentality to the Avalanche, who need that style on the blue line. Vesey can slot onto the bottom-six, providing the team additional depth.
For New York, the equation was simple. First, recoup draft picks lost in other deals. Drury did that. Second, move assets that were not truly part of the future. Check. Third, add in an intriguing possible piece for the future. Drury did so with Parsinnen, while also finding a replacement on the blue line, which is the case with de Haan.
Parsinnen is someone I really liked in Nashville but he has yet to fully establish himself as a regular player. He will get a chance to fill the third line center role the rest of the season and possibly in 2025-26, keeping Zib at wing. Parsinnen is a big, physical player, meeting the description of the player Drury wants, especially on the third line. He is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
De Haan, a UFA after the year, can fill Lindgren’s spot on defense. He is a solid, steady blueliner. There is no guarantee he will be here past the March 7 trade deadline, as New York could flip him for more draft capital. If he does remain, my projected D pairings are below.
Calvin De Haan, acquired by NYR, is a veteran depth defenceman who generally puts up good results in small minutes. pic.twitter.com/C86VByKP4u
Drury can eat salary - see below - on two more contracts, either internally or facilitating deals with others. If acquiring a player for the stretch drive and beyond, get Ryan McLeod, as he is someone to pay to acquire. Depending on where they finish, the Rangers could still keep their first round pick, if not, it went as part of the JT Miller. All the trades made this season have given the team a second, third, two fourths, a fifth, two sixths and a seventh, a vast difference from where they started the season.
After trading Lindgren & saving $1.475M annual cap hit ($369K for the remainder of season), #NYR have $3.5M Projected Cap Space.
With Fox and Chris Kreider, who landed on IR on Saturday with an injury reported as not related to his prior back ailment, sidelined, New York's lineup could look like below. Brett Berard was promoted and will be in the lineup once Reilly Smith is dealt. Berard could end up playing in place of Jonny Bordzinski or Smith tomorrow.
With Fox sidelined and Lindgren traded, we get a chance to see if K'Andre Miller can be a top-pair blueliner. He saw a massive increase in playing time Friday and will do so again today. Zac Jones also will see heavy minutes next to Braden Schneider.
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