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Al MacNeil Passes Away At Age 89

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A legendary member of the Calgary Flames organization, Al MacNeil, has passed away at the age of 89 as announced by the Flames.

Before starting his coaching and executive career in the National Hockey League, MacNeil spent 11 years as a player. He suited up for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh Penguins from 1955 to 1968 recording 17 goals and 92 points in 524 games with another four assists in 37 postseason contests.

After a brief hiatus in the CHL and AHL, MacNeil was named assistant coach for the Canadiens ahead of the 1970-71 season. After starting the season with an 11-8-4 record through 23 games, then-head coach Claude Ruel resigned leaving the keys to MacNeil for the remainder of the season.

Montreal rebounded immensely under MacNeil’s stewardship, finishing the regular season on a 31-15-9 tear with a +58 goal differential. After knocking off the defending Stanley Cup champion Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, the Canadiens defeated the Minnesota North Stars and Chicago Blackhawks to win the organization’s 15th Stanley Cup in franchise history.

Despite coaching the team to a Stanley Cup championship, Montreal hired fifth-year head coach Scotty Bowman after leading the St. Louis Blues to three out of the last four Stanley Cup Finals. The Canadiens had no intentions of MacNeil leaving the organization, naming him head coach of the AHL’s Nova Scotia Voyageurs. He enjoyed success with the Voyageurs, winning three Calder Cup championships in six seasons behind the bench.

After finishing as Director of Player Personnel for the Canadiens in the 1978-79 season, MacNeil became the head coach of the NHL’s Atlanta Flames for the 1979-80 season. He would spend the next two decades with the Flames organization.

MacNeil became the last head coach for the Atlanta Flames while being the first head coach for the Calgary Flames. He finished with a record of 105-93-44 in 240 games but failed to coach the Flames beyond the Conference Finals.

He was promoted to Calgary’s front office after the 1981-82 campaign and became the team’s assistant general manager in 1985. Despite a brief 11-game return as the Flames’ head coach in 2002-03, MacNeil held the role of the assistant general manager until his retirement after the 2005-06 season. MacNeil won the fourth Stanley Cup ring of his career when Calgary dispatched his former employer, the Canadiens, in the 1989 Stanley Cup Final.

Although many will think of franchise icons such as Jarome Iginla, Theo Fleury, Al MacInnis, or Lanny McDonald when pondering the Flames’ success since moving to Alberta, MacNeil remains one of the most historical figures in franchise history. PHR extends our condolences to Al’s friends, family, and the organizations he’s been a part of for the last 70 years.

New York Rangers Reassign Matt Rempe

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A corresponding transaction was necessary for the New York Rangers after claiming Arthur Kaliyev off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings earlier today. The Rangers have reassigned forward Matt Rempe to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, to bring their active roster back down to the 23-man limit.

The young enforcer is seven games into an eight-game suspension and will need to miss one more should be recalled to the active roster at any point for the remaining season. Rempe has failed to find the scoresheet in five games for the Rangers this season but has accrued 24 PIMs overall.

Because his only role is becoming increasingly rarer in professional hockey, Rempe has failed to accrue much playing time throughout his brief NHL career. Since debuting with the Rangers last year, Rempe has scored one goal and one assist in 22 games averaging 5:46 of ice time per game.

He returns to a Wolf Pack lineup where he’s largely been tasked with the same role but has had more offensive production to lean on. Since joining Hartford for the 2022-23 AHL season, Rempe has scored 17 goals and 27 points in 114 contests but has also racked up an eye-popping 205 career PIMs.

The Wolf Pack are currently clinging to a playoff spot with a 15-14-2-1 record through the first 40 games and sit seventh in the league with 454 PIMs. Despite still facing a suspension in the NHL, Rempe is eligible to suit up in Hartford’s next game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday.

New York Rangers Claim Arthur Kaliyev Off Waivers

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Jan. 6: Kaliyev’s time in the Kings organization has officially ended. TSN’s Bruce Garrioch was the first to report that the New York Rangers have claimed Kaliyev off the waiver wire. The Rangers will add Kaliyev’s entire $825K salary leaving them just under $8MM in room. He’ll be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer.

Jan. 5: The Los Angeles Kings have placed winger Arthur Kaliyev on waivers per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Kaliyev sustained a fractured clavicle in the pre-season, and wasn’t activated from season-opening injured reserve until December 28th. He was assigned to the AHL for a conditioning stint on December 10th, and scored two points in five games with the Ontario Reign. But being activated off of IR returns Kaliyev to waiver eligibility, and the Kings will now attempt to pass his through waivers to return him to the minor leagues.

Kaliyev played in his first minor league games since 2020-21 on his conditioning stint. He’s spent the years since fighting, and struggling, to earn a consistent role in the Kings’ lineup, under a very bright spotlight. Kaliyev has stood as one of Los Angeles’ top prospects since 2019, when the Kings drafted him with the first pick of the second round. He played through his rookie NHL season in 2021-22, scoring 14 goals and 27 points. Kaliyev began to improve on those numbers in year-two, but suffered an undisclosed injury in December that forced him out through mid-February, limiting him to just 56 games. Kaliyev managed 13 goals and 28 points, impressively rivaling his rookie scoring despite the injuries. But he couldn’t continue that improvement into last season, netting just 15 points in 51 games and falling into routine healthy scratches.

Even with minute intentions, this move stands as a major wedge in Kaliyev’s drive to earn an NHL role. He’s totaled 35 goals and 71 points in 188 career games, but never seemed to find a fit in the lineup, no matter how often the Kings changed up his role. He could be an interesting, high upside bet on the waiver wire – offering teams the chance to land an impactful middle-six scorer for no cost. Kaliyev is set to be a restricted free-agent with arbitration status this summer, and carries an affordable $825K cap hit.

Canucks Believed To Have Interest In Lafreniere And Schneider

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  • In a separate piece from Johnston, he relays that Vancouver has been interested in Rangers winger Alexis Lafreniere and defenseman Braden Schneider for quite some time. While Lafreniere isn’t likely to be moved having signed a long-term extension earlier this season, their interest in Schneider likely still stands, especially since he plays the type of role they tried to fill with Vincent Desharnais over the summer, a move that hasn’t worked out so far.  Of course, Schneider is only 23 and with New York struggling, he might not be the type of player they’re necessarily looking to move.

Metro Notes: Jones, Fehervary, Ersson, Puljujarvi

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New York Rangers defenseman Zac Jones voiced his frustration when discussing his recent stretch of healthy scratches amid the Rangers losing skid (as per Sean O’Leary of The Score). Jones, who will sit for the fifth time in six games tomorrow, said that he feels as though he is rotting away. The 24-year-old was a regular for the Rangers prior to the team bringing in Will Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen.

Jones added that it is tough for him to improve when he isn’t playing, and he feels as though he has done some good things, but his playing time isn’t reflecting that. In 26 games this season, Jones has posted a goal and seven assists while averaging 16:42 of ice time per game. Jones has been with New York since the team took him in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He has played in 95 games over the past five seasons, posting four goals and 21 assists.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary did not skate today during the team’s optional skate and is officially listed as day-to-day after taking a stick to the face from teammate Tom Wilson in yesterday’s win over Boston (as per Tarik El-Bashir of the Monumental Sports Network). He will be reevaluated tomorrow morning before the team takes on the Minnesota Wild in the evening. Fehervary has played every game this season after having injuries limit him to just 66 games last year. The 25-year-old is averaging the third most minutes of any Capitals skaters and has become a big piece of their defense core.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that goaltender Samuel Ersson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The netminder left last night’s game after two periods with an undisclosed injury and did not return. The Flyers have said it is likely a short-term injury and he will be evaluated daily. The 25-year-old missed time earlier this season with a groin issue, meaning that he could have reaggravated that injury yesterday. Ersson is 9-6-2 on the season with an .884 save percentage and a 3.02 goals-against average.
  • Matt Vensel of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi hinted that he may have asked the Penguins for a trade prior to him being put on waivers earlier in the week. The former fourth-overall pick cleared waivers and remains with the Penguins, but he has been a healthy scratch in ten straight games. Puljujarvi had a long road back to good health, and it’s hard to fault him for wanting to play. He was at Penguins practice again today, and once again he was the odd man out during their line rushes. The 26-year-old has three goals and five assists in 21 games this season but hasn’t been able to get into the lineup after Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said that he needed to play better defense and have more attention to detail.

Rangers To Place Igor Shesterkin On IR, Recall Louis Domingue

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The New York Rangers will place franchise goaltender Igor Shesterkin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. To fill his role, New York has also recalled goaltender Louis Domingue from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. No details of Shesterkin’s injury or timeline have been released. This IR placement will force him out of New York’s next three games, at least. Shesterkin played through the entirety of New York’s December 30th loss to the Florida Panthers, allowing four goals on 25 shots.

Losing Shesterkin for any duration is hard news to bear, especially for a Rangers club that’s gone 3-10-0 in the month of December. That’s in part thanks to Shesterkin slightly caving in – posting a .891 save percentage in 10 games this month, fourth-lowest among starting goaltenders. Backup Jonathan Quick didn’t perform much better, with a .847 Sv% through three appearances. The pair have totaled a more admirable .906 and .907 save percentage over the course of the season, though limiting opponent chances remains a major weakness for New York.

The Rangers will turn towards 12-year-pro Domingue to back up Quick in the short-term. Domingue has split AHL starts with top prospect Dylan Garand, recording a measly 4-9-1 record and .888 Sv% in 14 appearances. This is the first call-up of his season, and gives Domingue a chance to play in just his second game as a Ranger, after he recorded a 25-win for the team last season. He’s a veteran of eight NHL seasons, totaling a 60-60-10 record and .905 Sv% across 143 career games.

Latest On The New York Rangers

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Elliotte Friedman commented today on the Sunday column from Larry Brooks of the New York Post. In the column, Brooks writes that the Rangers players have quit on just about everyone, including their head coach Peter Laviolette. As Friedman points out, the Rangers collapse has been historic after the team won the President’s Trophy and went to the Eastern Conference Finals just last season. In his column, Brooks writes that the Rangers collapse will eventually result in Laviolette losing his job, and another loss tonight to Florida certainly won’t help things.

Friedman comments that Brooks is incredibly plugged into the Rangers organization and feels that this column carries a ton of weight. He adds that Laviolette knows that hockey is results-driven, and with the Rangers losing 15 of their last 19 games, the results have been very poor.

The Rangers haven’t been shy about making hard choices in recent years, leveraging waivers as a means of sidestepping no-trade clauses, and moving on from long-time veterans. The Rangers just underwent a dramatic rebuild prior to the pandemic, and now, at a time when they should be competing for the Stanley Cup, they are amid their season unravelling. It is anyone’s guess as to what the Rangers will do next and there could be many more surprises in store in New York City.

General manager Chris Drury has already traded his captain, he’s traded a recent second overall pick, he’s called around the league and let teams know that most of their roster is available (including long-time veteran Chris Kreider). He hasn’t been shy about calling players out, or doing what he thinks is best to improve the team.

Now, with the team free-falling, Drury has some hard choices to make. He is unlikely to overhaul the roster into a contender this season, and given that the Rangers just exited a rebuild, it’s unlikely that the franchise has the appetite to endure another one. But, with each passing day, some sort of action will need to occur, and it seems likely (at least according to Brooks) that it will start with Laviolette.

Rangers Would Prefer To Not Make A Coaching Change

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Despite what has been a rather tumultuous last few weeks, the Rangers would prefer not to make a coaching change, suggests Peter Baugh of The Athletic (subscription link).  New York entered tonight’s action having lost 13 of their last 17 games, sliding from being in a playoff spot to seventh in the Metropolitan Division heading into Saturday’s action (which didn’t go well for them either).  Even with the recent struggles, the Rangers have played to a .634 points percentage under Peter Laviolette who is approaching the midway point of his three-year contract.

Rangers Activate K’Andre Miller, Assign Chad Ruhwedel To AHL

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The Rangers will welcome back a key blueliner on Saturday as Mollie Walker of the New York Post relays (Twitter link) that defenseman K’Andre Miller has been activated off injured reserve.  In a corresponding move, the team announced (Twitter link) that blueliner Chad Ruhwedel has been returned to AHL Hartford.

Miller has missed a little more than two weeks with an upper-body injury but was believed to be nearing a return before the holiday break so it comes as little surprise that he has been activated now.  It has been a rough year for the 24-year-old as he has not been able to get back to the form he had over the past two seasons.  After putting up 43 points in 2022-23 and 30 last season, Miller has been limited to just two goals and four assists in 28 games so far this year despite still logging over 21 minutes a night.

The timing of his struggles certainly isn’t ideal from Miller’s perspective.  He’s in the final season of his two-year bridge deal and will be a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration rights.  At that time, he’ll be owed a $4.646MM qualifying offer but while it looked like he’d vastly exceed that a year ago, that’s less likely to be the case now.  Meanwhile, with the team struggling, he’s among the players who have been speculated as potential trade chips as GM Chris Drury looks to reshape his roster.

As for Ruhwedel, he has been shuttled back and forth throughout the last six weeks but NHL playing time has been hard to come by.  The 34-year-old has played in just five games with New York so far, collecting one assist in a little over 14 minutes a night of playing time.  A veteran of 369 career NHL appearances, Ruhwedel will certainly be among the first recall options whenever another defender is banged up.  Ruhwedel also has three assists in 11 appearances with Hartford.

Rangers Believed To Be Shopping Jimmy Vesey

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While Chris Kreider and the since-traded Jacob Trouba were the headliners among the available for trade memo that went to teams last month, it appears those two Rangers weren’t the only ones on there.  Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that veteran winger Jimmy Vesey is also being shopped around and has been for the last month.

Last season, Vesey had a solid showing, putting up 13 goals and 13 assists in 80 games despite only averaging 12:23 per game.  For a depth scorer, that’s not a bad level of output and it was his best point total since the 2018-19 campaign, the last year of his first stint with New York.  At a price tag that was only $25K above the league minimum, that was a solid value deal for them.

However, the second year of that agreement hasn’t gone as well.  Vesey has been limited to just 19 appearances out of 34 thus far, some due to a lower-body injury but other missed games were as a healthy scratch.  Production has been harder to come by for the 31-year-old as he has just three goals and one assist so far while his playing time is down under ten minutes a night now with his playing time shorthanded down by more than 75% compared to a year ago.

This is the final year of Vesey’s contract and he’ll be eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer.  With his early-season struggles, his trade value has almost certainly taken a hit to the point where their likeliest return would be a later-round draft pick or a similar low-cost depth player.  That said, GM Chris Drury appears to be intent on shaking up his roster and it would appear that it’s not just the prominent veteran that are available but some of the end-of-roster pieces as well.

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