- Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko is among those that the NHL could deem ineligible to return for medical reasons due to his diabetes but his agent Andy Scott told Greg Joyce of the New York Post that the rookie still intends to suit up against Carolina. Players have the right to appeal if league doctors rule them ineligible and this would suggest that Kakko would go that route if it comes to it.
Rangers Rumors
Snapshots: Amnesty, Lucic, Game Audio, Hajek
Despite the hopes and dreams of fans around the NHL, the agreed-upon return-to-play conditions and extended CBA is not likely to include any kind of amnesty clause, per TSN’s Bob McKenzie. The assumption that the salary cap will hold at $81.5MM for the next two seasons gave rise to some speculation that the stagnant cap would be augmented by an amnesty provision, but it appears teams will be stuck with the contracts they’ve got on the books. For the Calgary Flames, that means Milan Lucic, writes Todd Cordell of Hockey Buzz. Lucic has three more years on his deal worth $5.25MM per season. The 32-year-old Lucic hardly set the world on fire in his first season in Calgary, notching just 20 points (8 goals, 12 assists) across 68 games. The Flames acquired Lucic and a conditional 3rd round pick for winger James Neal after one disappointing season in Calgary produced just seven goals. The money owed Lucic isn’t exorbitant, but it’s not an ideal price tag for an aging winger entering his mid-thirties. Lucic still played a role on the Flames’ third line, but his days as a 40-60 point scorer appear behind him. Additionally, it’s unclear right now if the Flames will actually receive the third-round pick. To get the pick in this year’s draft, Neal had to score at least 21 goals and record 10 more goals than Lucic. The second condition was qualified, but Neal scored just 19 goals – in a shortened season. Common sense would look at those numbers and say Neal was going to qualify both conditions, but it’s not entirely clear.
- When the NHL returns to television, the game may look the same – except for the leagues of empty seats in the background – but the audio experience may provide an even more jarring change, per Kevin McGran of The Star. Without access to players, the play-by-play commentators are likely to call games from a studio instead of the arena, and in terms of sideline reporting, well, there won’t be any. Studios are still working on the best way to pump in ambient sound, whether that’s highlighting sounds from the ice or using some kind of fan track. The most entertaining option would almost certainly be to mic the players, but that would require players to curb their vulgarity, which, in the heat of the moment, might be too great an ask.
- Libor Hajek of the New York Rangers has hired Octagon as his representation, tweets agent Allan Walsh. The young blueliner appeared in 28 games for the Rangers this season, recording five assists but no goals. Walsh also represents NHL players like Marc-Andre Fleury and Brock Boeser.
Snapshots: Berglund, Rangers’ Goalie Battle
Brynäs IF of the Swedish Hockey League has offered a contract to free agent Patrik Berglund, per Uffe Bodin of hockeysverige.se. Berglund, last seen in the NHL as a member of the 2018-2019 Buffalo Sabres, had his contract terminated after failing to report. Mental health issues led Berglund to forfeit the $10MM contract and return to Europe where he eventually signed a deal with Djurgardens in the SHL. It appears as if Berglund, 32, will stay in the Swedish Hockey League for the foreseeable future, putting an end to any speculation that he might return stateside. Berglund initially joined the Sabres to help match salary as part of the Ryan O’Reilly trade.
- The New York Rangers are in the enviable position of having not one, not two, but three viable options at goaltender once play resumes, per Dan Rosen of NHL.com. Henrik Lundqvist (.905 save percentage in 26 starts) could be grandfathered into the starting role, but Igor Shesterkin (.932 save percentage in 12 starts)and Alexandar Georgiev (.910 save percentage in 32 starts) each made their case with solid play during the year. As with many of the roster decisions coming out of the long layoff, this may come down to conditioning and readiness. However he decides, coach David Quinn is sure to be second-guessed if their five-game Stanley Cup Qualifier against the Carolina Hurricanes goes poorly. On his thinking, Quinn said this: “You can make a case for all three guys. There’s a lot of reasons to take ’Shesty,’ there’s a lot of reasons to start Hank (Lundqvist), and there’s reasons to start ’Georgie.’ This is such an uncertain time that that will play out over the course of the two and a half weeks that we’re going to have before we drop the puck.”
- Looking ahead, the Rangers decision could speak to their likely direction this offseason when they’ll need to decide again how to manage the futures of Lundqvist, 38, Shesterkin, 24, and Georgiev, 24. Lundqvist is owed $8.5MM for the 2020-2021 season while Shesterkin has another year at $925K. “Georgie” could be the odd man out, as he will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season. That said, the Rangers’ remain in control of all three, and they’ll likely explore trade avenues to extract value from the deep positional group.
Poll: Who Do You Least Want To See Win The No. 1 Pick?
If Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly’s face didn’t give it away during Friday night’s NHL Draft Lottery, this result was not what the league was expecting or hoping for. In a season when a decorated Original Six franchise, the Detroit Red Wings, had one of the worst campaigns of all-time and the league’s most downtrodden franchise, the Ottawa Senators, had not one but two high-percentage chances of winning the top pick, the No. 1 overall selection will instead go to a to-be-determined “playoff” team.
With the league expanding the postseason field to 24 teams this season as a result of COVID-19 cutting the regular season short, 16 teams will vie for a chance to move through a “knockout round” onto a more standard version of the NHL playoffs. However, now those same 16 teams, all of whom finished above .500 this season, will also be in the running to win the top overall pick and the right to select a generational talent in forward Alexis Lafreniere. All eight losers of the qualifying round will have even odds in a second running of the lottery and one lucky team will get playoff experience and an elite young player this season. No one is going to be truly happy with the result (apart from the lottery winner and their fans of course) but who would you least like to see win the top overall pick?
The Pittsburgh Penguins might be at the top of many peoples’ lists. The franchise has won three Stanley Cups in the last decade and no one would be surprised to see them win again this year, especially given the fact that they finished the regular season in seventh league-wide in points percentage. The Penguins are the best team slated to play in the knockout round, but if by some chance they lose to the Montreal Canadiens, Lafreniere could potentially join Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and company in a move that could extend the dynasty for years still to come. The thought of the talented young winger playing beside either of those superstars would be daunting to every other team in the league.
Finishing just behind Pittsburgh with the ninth-best points percentage in the league this year were the Carolina Hurricanes. The club has quietly accumulated a deep, talented roster including a number of elite young players. Carolina is set to contend for titles for many years to come, but Lafreniere would make them truly dangerous. Like the Penguins, the Hurricanes simply do not need the best player in the draft. Keep in mind that they were also one of just two teams to vote against the expanded postseason model, making it especially twisted if they were to reap the benefits of this one-off lottery structure. As good as the Hurricanes were at times this season, they are a popular upset pick in the qualifying round against the New York Rangers and could wind up in the lottery.
The New York Islanders finished just outside the top-ten in points percentage this season and have a deep, experienced team. They also play a sound defensive system. While it works to win games, it isn’t the most exciting strategy and could limit the upside of an explosive offensive talent like Lafreniere. On top of that, the Isles don’t even know where they will be playing their home games next season and have suffered from poor attendance in recent years. It doesn’t exactly sound like an ideal landing spot for an exciting top prospect. Fortunately, the Islanders drew a plus matchup against the Florida Panthers and should advance past the knockout round if they can stick to their smothering defensive game.
Given their luck in the draft lottery over the past decade, it’s pretty gross to think about the Edmonton Oilers being in the running for another No. 1 pick. Likely soon to be the home of two MVP’s in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Oilers landing Lafreniere as their fifth first overall pick and ninth top-ten pick since 2010 would really be something. With an improved NHL roster and a strong pipeline of talent, the Oilers are finally starting to be self-sufficient and don’t need Lafreniere like they might have in recent year. However, if the team can’t hold off a poor Chicago Blackhawks club in the knockout round, maybe they do need the pick.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are another team that is chock full of young talent and it would be an embarrassment of riches (and embarrassing for the league) to see them land Lafreniere. While the team would be in prime shape to finally snap their Stanley Cup drought with the addition, the Leafs are already well on their way and will be contenders for years and years to come even without the top pick. Additionally, should Toronto win the lottery, there would certainly be those that would cry foul about the whole situation. The Maple Leafs face the Columbus Blue Jackets in the qualifying round in one of the more evenly matched of the upcoming series. Toronto is likely the slight favorite, but could just as easily wind up in the lottery.
The current iteration of the Chicago Blackhawks is not good. However, they are also the most dominant franchise of this decade with three Stanley Cups. It’s not east to find many outside of Chicago who have pity for the current Blackhawks given their sustained success of late. With some of those core players still in place and some exciting young pieces starting to build up, the Blackhawks may already be back on the rebound without the assistance of Lafreniere. If they make it a series with the star-studded Oilers, it will be even more evident that they don’t need a top pick to stay relevant. Like the Maple Leafs, some will also be outraged if the Blackhawks win the lottery due to the perceived favoritism shown by the league on a number of occasions in recent years.
If you really want to hear conspiracy theories though, look no further than the possibility of the Montreal Canadiens winding up with No. 1 overall. Yes, the Canadiens have no business in a playoff series and would have been in the standard draft lottery anyway, but there will be plenty who think that it is far too convenient if the Habs win the top pick when a Francophone and Quebec native is the best player on the board. It used to be that Montreal – who don’t forget have more Stanley Cups than any NHL franchise – was able to claim the best French Canadian players in the draft regardless of draft order. If that opportunity should inadvertently occur once again, plenty of people might get upset at the league despite the fact that Montreal technically is the most deserving (read: worst) of the qualifying round teams. The NHL does not want that drama right now and its most decorated club frankly does not need special treatment, perceived or otherwise.
As for the remaining teams, the Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, and Vancouver Canucks were all better than their records implied this season and already have elite young players, the Florida Panthers and Arizona Coyotes may not have the fan bases to support a young star like Lafreniere, and I’m sure there are reasons to root against the Nashville Predators, Calgary Flames, and Minnesota Wild as well. If you can think of a valid reason why the Columbus Blue Jackets, who have one playoff series win in franchise history, don’t deserve a stroke of good luck, that’s fine too.
What do you think? Which team do you absolutely not want to see Lafreniere go to, either because of existing talent or complaints of foul play or for any other reason? The reality is that one of these 16 will end up with the best player on the board, which in many ways is already a loss for the league, but it can get much worse from here.
Tyler Nanne Signs AHL Contract
June 29: Nanne has officially signed with Hershey, the team announced today. The former Rangers prospect whose career was nearly derailed by a serious heart condition will be a feel-good story in the AHL next season and maybe one day in the NHL.
March 17: The long and interesting story of Tyler Nanne has a new chapter, after his agent Neil Sheehy announced on Twitter that the collegiate defenseman has decided to sign an AHL contract with the Hershey Bears for the 2020-21 season.
Selected in the fifth round by the New York Rangers, it looked like his future would eventually be in that organization. Instead, he’ll suit up for the minor league affiliate of the Washington Capitals, more than six years after hearing his name called out at the 2014 draft. Following that selection, Nanne first went to the USHL where he played for the Sioux Falls Stampede and Madison Capitols, before heading to Ohio State University—not exactly the expected destination for a kid from Edina, and especially not for the son of a former Golden Gopher who worked as a scout for the Minnesota Wild.
Even though he tried to carve his own path at another powerhouse NCAA program, Nanne wouldn’t ever actually play a single game as a Buckeye. During the summer of 2015 the young hockey player would suffer multiple incidents including what he told Randy Johnson of the Star-Tribune was “essentially a heart attack” before being diagnosed with myocarditis. His season would come to an end before it even started, which led to a decision to transfer following his freshman year.
Back to Minnesota went Nanne, but he wouldn’t play during the 2016-17 campaign either thanks to the transfer rules making him ineligible for NCAA participation that season. That meant by the time he started his first year of college hockey in 2017, he hadn’t had any game experience for more than two years.
Now after three full seasons as a member of the Gophers, Nanne will leave to start his professional career. He spent the 2019-20 season as captain of the team, and scored a career-high 14 points in 35 games.
Though his rights will still technically be owned by the Rangers until the middle of August, it appears as though he will not be signing an entry-level deal with them. Instead, he’ll try to show he has what it takes to compete at the AHL level first. Nanne is already 24 (today!) but just getting to this level is impressive after such a long layoff in his prime development years.
East Notes: Sabres Draft Pick, Kreider, Haley, Devils
The Buffalo Sabres have been drafting in the lottery for their ninth straight season, having been held out of the playoffs for that entire stretch of time. Fan frustration has been at an all-time high and new massive firings throughout the organizations hasn’t helped much. However, the team does have a number of options with the No. 8 overall pick in a deep upcoming draft.
The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington feels that there is only one option to get the Sabres over the hump and back into the playoffs — trade the pick.
The scribe makes it clear that developing prospects takes time, often two years for a solid prospect, which is what they would be getting. Even then, you aren’t expected to get that much out of that player’s third year anyway. With that type of timetable and frustration of the team’s lack of success increasing, trading the pick for a ready-now talent would make quite a bit of sense. With the expected belief that the top 10 or 11 picks are expected to be top-level players at some point, the pick would be quite valuable to teams looking to rebuild. After all, who knows how long Jack Eichel will want to continue the team’s losing ways.
- The New York Rangers are expected to get back two forwards to their team for the upcoming 24-team tournament as Newsday’s Colin Stephenson writes that forwards Chris Kreider and Micheal Haley are both healthy and ready to return to action next month. Kreider broke his foot on Feb. 28, not long after signing a new seven-year, $45.5MM contract. He has been skating in small groups for the last few weeks at their training facility in Greenburgh. Haley, who had surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle, is also expected to join the team for the tournament. He has been out since early February.
- There has been plenty of chatter around the coaching situation in New Jersey and while the Devils should be in no rush to hire a new head coach with the start of the 2020-21 season potentially not starting for six months, The Athletic’s Corey Masisak (subscription required) writes in his most recent mailbag that he wouldn’t be surprised if New Jersey hires a coach sooner than later. One reason for that is there are many voices suggesting that the seven non-playoff teams might get a chance to potentially play in a mini-tournament before the start of the 2020-21 season, and New Jersey would want their coach in place before any potential team gathering.
Rangers Prospect Nils Lundkvist Signs SHL Extension
Rangers prospect Nils Lundkvist had a post-draft season to remember with Lulea but it appears that he has some unfinished business with them as the SHL squad announced that they’ve signed the defenseman to a one-year contract extension that will keep him there for the 2020-21 season.
The 19-year-old was the 28th overall pick back in 2018 following a season split between the SHL and Sweden’s junior league. Last year, he worked his way into a regular role. This season, however, he thrived, posting 11 goals and 20 assists in 45 games, good for seventh in the league in scoring among blueliners. He also logged 20:18 per night, second-most among Lulea rearguards. Lundkvist was also third in scoring by a defender at the World Juniors, picking up a goal and seven assists in seven games.
That performance led many to believe that he was ready to make the jump to play in North America if not even push for a roster spot with New York for next year. However, it’s likely that the uncertainty surrounding the start of next season due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has helped push Lundkvist in this direction. Sticking around with Lulea guarantees him a full season of development and put him in a good spot to contend for a spot with the Rangers for 2021-22.
Metropolitan Storylines: New York Rangers
While the stretch run is officially over with the NHL’s declaration that the play-in games won’t be part of the regular season, we still have one division left to get to in our Stretch Run Storylines series. Our focus has been shifted to the Metropolitan Division with an eye on things to watch for in the postseason. Next up is a look at the New York Rangers.
This season, the Rangers were expected to take a step towards moving out of their rebuild, especially after they added winger Artemi Panarin via the richest AAV handed to a winger in league history and picked up blueliner Jacob Trouba from Winnipeg in a trade. However, they were struggling through the first half of the season before a midseason recall helped change their fortunes. Whether or not that recall gets a chance to play in their play-in series against Carolina is among the things to watch for from New York when play resumes.
Zibanejad’s Momentum
Over the final six weeks of the season, who was the top scorer in the NHL? It wasn’t Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl who was on a tear of his own and may be the Hart Trophy winner. It wasn’t Panarin who had a career year and finished tied for third in the league in scoring. Instead, it was his linemate in center Mika Zibanejad. Over his last 21 games from February 1st to the suspension of the schedule, he had 22 goals and 11 assists. Yes, better than a goal per game pace. (He also led in points per game if you want to look at the stat that way to balance out the differences in games played.)
Zibanejad and Panarin were dominant for large parts of what amounted to the stretch run. While Panarin played at that level for basically most of the year, Zibanejad’s top gear was something that he hadn’t shown with any sort of regularity in the past. While the Rangers are a deep enough team offensively to withstand Zibanejad reverting closer to his normal form (which is still a strong two-way pivot), they’re much more dangerous with that duo lighting it up. In a short series as the play-in round is, that could make or break New York’s fortunes.
Who Starts?
For the first half of the season, New York’s goaltending tandem was Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev. On paper, it wasn’t a bad duo – a proven veteran and a young goalie that has shown flashes of upside in his early career. That didn’t translate to much in the way of success, however, which necessitated the recall of Igor Shesterkin from AHL Hartford. He made an immediate impact and ran with the number one job until the pandemic hit three months ago.
Now, David Quinn has a decision to make on who to start against Carolina. On the surface, Shesterkin would make sense as he had the hot hand before but more than three months have passed since then and it’ll be another month before games resume. He’s still relatively untested in North America with only a dozen NHL games under his belt so putting him into a must-win series does carry some risk.
On the other hand, the other options carry some risk as well. Lundqvist came into this season having posted the worst numbers of his career in 2018-19. His numbers were slightly worse this year and he wound up as the third-string option frequently once Shesterkin was recalled. The rest may help the 38-year-old in terms of being rested and ready to play though and he has a very strong track record of success in the postseason. There are also questions about whether there’s a spot for him next season with the two younger goalies likely to be around so giving Lundqvist the first shot would be a nice nod to a well-respected franchise mainstay. But is there room for sentimentality in a short series?
As for Georgiev, he was consistently inconsistent while posting a dip in his save percentage from last season. Having said that, he stole some games for the Rangers and if he’s on, he could be the difference in this series. On the flip side, the risk factor of playing Georgiev is high since if he’s not at the top of his game, he struggles.
There is no simple answer here as all have arguments for and against playing them. As a result, Quinn will certainly be keeping a close tab on his three netminders during training camp. With a limited exhibition schedule, how each performs in practice may very well play a role in determining who starts against the Hurricanes.
RFA Watch
Salary cap space was an issue for the Rangers heading into the year as they more or less forced winger Brendan Lemieux and defenseman Anthony DeAngelo into taking cheap one-year deals. That has worked out quite well for DeAngelo who had a career year offensively with 15 goals and 38 assists in 68 games. A strong showing in the postseason will only his bolster his arbitration case which he is now eligible for.
Then there’s Ryan Strome. The center also had a career season with 18 goals and 41 helpers in 70 contests and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration eligibility. He went into the season viewed as a possible non-tender candidate because of his required $3.2MM qualifying offer. He has outperformed that rate but his future with the team still feels a little bit tenuous but a good performance here could help solidify his fate in New York.
For perspective, the Rangers have more than $67MM committed to 15 players for next season with DeAngelo, Strome, Georgiev and Lemieux all in need of new contracts. With the expectation that next year’s Upper Limit will be at or around the current $81.5MM mark, it will be a tight squeeze to keep all of them, fill out the rest of the roster, and remain under that threshold. That means there may a bit more at stake for those players in this postseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rangers UFA Nick Ebert Signs In SHL
Rangers UFA Nick Ebert returned to North America last summer in the hopes of getting an NHL opportunity. That never materialized so he has decided to head back overseas as Orebro of the SHL announced that they’ve signed Ebert to a two-year contract.
Ebert spent the majority of the season with New York’s AHL affiliate in Hartford where he had five goals and 11 assists in 46 AHL contests this season. He also played in one game with Ottawa’s affiliate as it was the Senators who initially brought him over but moved him early in the year to the Rangers as part of the Vladislav Namestnikov deal.
The 26-year-old previously played with Orebro in 2018-19 as well as a handful of games the year before. It was his performance with them last season that helped get him back on the North American radar even though it didn’t amount to an NHL chance in the end.
Orebro’s press release states that Ebert’s actual arrival date is unknown which seemingly paves the way for him to be a part of New York’s postseason roster if they so desire. Considering he wasn’t recalled during the season. it seems unlikely that they’ll do so in which case he’d be able to join them in August in advance of training camp.
Snapshots: Training Camp, Kravtsov, KHL, AHL Signings
The return of hockey will soon seem like much more of a reality. The Athletic’s Michael Russo reports that NHL playoff teams can anticipate having their full rosters in town possibly by the end of the week. Russo writes that the European players for the Minnesota Wild are all expected to be back by Friday in order to meet the league’s mandated two-week quarantine period before Phase 3 training camps open on July 10. He adds that most European players are expected to do the same. While commercial flights from some European countries continue to be a struggle, players are also going the group charter route in order to get back to North America.
Among those making the trek from Europe is New York Rangers prospect Vitali Kravtsov, the team announced. The 20-year-old Kravtsov, a first-round pick in 2018, made the jump to North America for the first time to begin this season but was limited to the AHL and eventually returned to the KHL mid-season. In the team’s release, President John Davidson discusses Kravtsov’s early struggles and disappointment with not being used by the Rangers at the top level, but also raves about his ability and notes that the team could use talented depth for an uphill playoff run. The big, skilled Kravtsov will be given a chance to crack the postseason roster in training camp and just maybe will get the chance to play in the NHL that he had been seeking earlier this year.
- Over in the KHL, COVID-19 continues to complicate plans for 2020-21. League president Alexei Morozov announced that Admiral Vladivostok will not compete next season due to budget restraints and the possibility of limited income due to restricted attendance. Admiral struggled through a grim 2019-20 campaign that ended when they missed the playoffs for the third straight year. They may find it even harder to put together a winning team if and when they return to action after all of their players depart this off-season. Meanwhile, the other 23 teams have submitted their financial records to the league for approval and plan to play next season. However, Kunlun Red Star, the KHL’s lone Chinese team, may need to look elsewhere to open up the season. The Beijing-based club faces strict travel and public event restrictions as of right now that would prove problematic if still in place when the season begins this fall. One of the proposed locations for the team to host home games early on? None other than Vladivostok.
- There was some rare transaction movement in the AHL today, as the Manitoba Moose extended a pair of players. The Winnipeg Jets’ affiliate has re-signed forwards Brent Pederson and Cole Maier to one-year contracts for next season. Maier recorded 15 points in 59 games with the Moose, while Pederson – a former Carolina Hurricanes prospect – recorded nine points in 36 AHL games and spent some time in the ECHL as well. The San Jose Barracuda also made a move, as Steenn Pasichnuk follows his brother from Arizona State to the organization. The Sharks signed standout defenseman and Sun Devils captain Brinson Pasichnuk earlier this spring and have sweetened the pot by bringing his older brother along, a checking forward who will fight for bottom-six minutes with the Barracuda.