The New York Rangers are the focus of many right now as they try to turn the corner from rebuilding to a contender, and a huge part of that success will be the continued star play of reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic writes in his latest that a Fox extension should be the entire focus of the Rangers front office right now, lest they put themselves in a trickier situation next summer. LeBrun writes that the Rangers and Fox’s agent Matt Keator have had “very preliminary talks.”
- LeBrun also touches on Jack Hughes, whose camp has also had preliminary talks with the New Jersey Devils on an extension. The young forward suffered a dislocated shoulder and will be out indefinitely for the Devils, but that doesn’t mean he’s any less a key part of their future. The first-overall pick from 2019 had 31 points in 56 games last season and appeared to be taking another step forward this time around, with three points in the game and a half he was able to finish. The scribe believes the Devils will try to sign Hughes to a long-term deal, as they did previously with captain Nico Hischier.
- Meanwhile, Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin told reporters yesterday that in a perfect world he would be back with the team next season, but that talks are still put off until the end of the season. He confirmed he still has total control over hockey decisions, despite his contract expiring at the end of this season. Arpon Basu of The Athletic examined his comments and suggests that the ball is now squarely in owner Geoff Molson’s court after Bergevin spoke publicly and made his desire to stay clear.
- Remember David Desharnais? Well, he’s got an extension of his own, this time with HC Fribourg-Gotteron in Switzerland, where he’s played the last few years. Desharnais signed a new one-year extension that keeps him there through the 2022-23 season, allowing him to continue being a key part of a professional team a little longer. The 35-year-old forward scored 282 points in a 524-game NHL career before taking his talents overseas and has been excellent in Switzerland, racking up 94 points in 113 games.
@Gavin – I thought @Josip might have beat me to it today, but here’s today’s weirdness. “Matt Keator” is all bold face, except for the “M”. It’s actually not that weird, as I do it all the time, exchanging emails with a friend. (I attribute this skill to switching to the Zen kernel from LTS.)
Certainly looked pretty weird to me. Thanks, fixed.
@Gavin – You know, it kind of reminded me of something similar in an old movie. Part of Matt Keator was still in the shadows, not unlike the character “Harry Lime” from “The Third Man.” An interesting movie with a theme that you never forget, no doubt due to what sounds like a Bouzouki.