Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Rangers Rumors

Snapshots: Tuch, Jones, Lehkonen

at CDT | by 3 Comments

Both Mike Harrington and Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News expect Sabres winger Alex Tuch to sign a contract extension immediately upon becoming eligible to do so on July 1, 2025, they said in their latest mailbag. Tuch, a New York native, is entering the final two seasons of a seven-year, $33.25MM extension he signed while with the Golden Knights back in 2018.

“For all of [general manager Kevyn] Adams’ talk about looking for players who want to be Sabres, there is no one who wants to be here more than No. 89,” Harrington wrote. “What kind of message would it send if they don’t go long-term with him? While I expect Rasmus Dahlin to be named the captain at some point, make no mistake that Tuch might be the foremost leader in the dressing room now that Kyle Okposo is gone.”

Tuch, 28, was a first-round pick of the Wild in 2014 but was traded to Vegas for expansion draft considerations in 2017. He developed into a top-nine fixture in Nevada before being included as one of the core pieces in the trade that sent former Buffalo captain Jack Eichel to the Knights in 2021. Since then, he’s been a staple on the Sabres’ top line alongside Tage Thompson. He’s recorded 70 goals, 106 assists and 176 points in 199 games in a Buffalo sweater.

After routinely averaging over 19 minutes per game and recording over a point per game, Tuch will be in line for a significant raise on his $4.75MM cap hit. A long-term deal could easily cost north of $8MM per season for his 0.88 points per game average since arriving in Buffalo.

Here’s more from around the NHL:

  • Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette praised young defenseman Zachary Jones in a profile for NHL.com’s Dan Rosen last week, suggesting the 23-year-old is set for a regular third-pairing role in the Big Apple to begin the season. “Jones got better every single time he played for us,” Laviolette said. “He had to bring that out in himself every time we called his number, and it wasn’t on a consistent basis. When he got the opportunity, he was fantastic.” Jones, a Rangers third-rounder in 2019, has appeared in NHL games in each of the last four years but has been used sparingly, only appearing a career-high 31 times last season.
  • Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen appears to be recovering well from offseason shoulder surgery, per Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now. Head coach Jared Bednar said last week that he wasn’t sure if the top-six fixture would be medically cleared for the beginning of the regular season, but video captured by Rawal the past few days shows “encouraging signs that he’ll be good to go when the Avalanche open their season.” However, it’s certain that he won’t be a full participant when training camp opens in a few weeks.

Hartford Wolf Pack Hire Brendan Burke, Paul Mara

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers, the Hartford Wolf Pack, rounded out their coaching staff today as they announced the hire of Brendan Burke as the team’s goaltending coach and Paul Mara as one of the team’s assistant coaches. Burke is replacing Jeff Malcolm as the team’s full-time goaltending coach who was promoted to the Rangers’ goaltending coach yesterday.

[SOURCE LINK]

Igor Shesterkin, Rangers In Extension Talks

at CDT | by 7 Comments

The 2024-25 goalie free-agent class may take a major hit in the coming weeks as the New York Rangers continue engaging Igor Shesterkin in extension negotiations. Shesterkin was recently asked about the prospect of a new deal with the Rangers in an interview with RG.org where he said, “My agent, Maxim Moliver, is talking to the general manager. I can’t say anything else. For me, the most important thing now is preparing for the season and being 100% ready mentally and physically. An exciting season is ahead, and the agent will discuss the contract“.

Shesterkin is letting his agent do most of the heavy lifting like many players of his caliber. The 28-year-old Russian netminder is coming off a tremendous five years in New York with a 135-59-17 record in 208 starts with a .921 save percentage and 2.43 goals against average. Shesterkin is seeing his four-year, $22.67MM contract expire after the 2024-25 NHL season where he would become the best free-agent goaltender in some time.

According to HockeyReference, Shesterkin holds similar similarity scores to goaltending greats such as Roberto Luongo, Connor Hellebuyck, and Sergei Bobrovsky through the first five years of their career. All three netminders landed handsome contracts throughout their career and Shesterkin is set to match or exceed their salary markers on his next contract.

The Moscow native will surely be looking for north of $8.5MM season given that Helleybuyck landed an $8.5MM AAV over seven years last summer with the Winnipeg Jets. A few months ago, Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic speculated that Shesterkin could seek as high as $12MM a year to set a new yearly average for goaltenders. The Rangers could theoretically shell out that asking price but have several other contracts to work through next summer, as well.

Realistically, Shesterkin should land anywhere between $9MM-$11MM annually with Evolving-Hockey predicting a $9.455MM salary on an eight-year deal. With Shesterkin’s agent handling most of if not all the extension negotiations, these talks could drag on well into the 2024-25 NHL season. Nevertheless, the Vezina-trophy-winning goaltender has confidence it will get done before he can hit the open market next offseason.

Rangers Promote Jeff Malcolm To Goaltending Coach

at CDT | by 8 Comments

For the first time since 2004, Benoît Allaire won’t be serving as the Rangers’ goaltending coach. He’s transitioning away from day-to-day duties. Jeff Malcolm, previously the goaltending coach of their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, has been promoted to the NHL bench, per Arthur Staple of The Athletic.

The news ends Allaire’s 20-year run as the Rags’ goalie coach, during which he’s presided over one of the best runs of play between the pipes for any team in league history. Allaire’s arrival in New York coincided with Henrik Lundqvist’s as the league exited the 2004-05 lockout. He played a crucial role in developing one of the best netminders of all time, who started off his career with five Vezina Trophy nominations (one win) in 10 years. Lundqvist, who finished his time in the Big Apple with a 459-310-96 record and .918 SV% in 887 appearances, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on his first try in 2023.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, King Henrik’s reign in the New York crease has been continued seamlessly by Igor Shesterkin, an established top-five netminder in the league. Allaire has coached the 28-year-old Russian to a .921 SV% through 213 appearances over the past five seasons, good enough for a Vezina win and a Hart nomination in 2021-22.

They’re big shoes for the 35-year-old Malcolm to fill. He’s familiar with the organization, spending three years with the Rangers as a goaltending consultant before being named the Wolf Pack’s goalie coach in 2021. Allaire also oversaw his brief playing career, suiting up in 36 games for Hartford between 2013 and 2017.

Thus far, Malcolm’s biggest impact has been felt in developing 2020 fourth-round pick Dylan Garand. The 22-year-old has struggled in his first two regular seasons with Hartford, but he’s warded off competition and taken over the starter’s crease in the playoffs in back-to-back years. The former Canadian Hockey League Goaltender of the Year has shined with a .927 SV% and 2.21 GAA in 17 AHL postseason appearances.

Staple adds that Brendan Burke will replace Malcolm in the AHL. Burke, the son of former NHL netminder and Golden Knights goaltending director Sean Burke spent last season as the goaltending coach of the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks.

East Notes: Laine, Makiniemi, Sutter

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Patrik Laine has no reservations about his ability to return to being an impact player following yesterday’s trade to the Canadiens. “I don’t want to come back as a 30-goal-scorer. I want to come back as a 40, 50- (goal-scorer). I’ve done that previously and it’s not by accident,” he told reporters (including NHL.com’s Tracey Myers).

“But it’s not just all about that,” Laine continued. “I want to come in and do whatever it takes to contribute to the team and help the team win, whether it’s me scoring 50 or scoring 20, as long as the team wins. I’m getting to that age, I’m not 19 years old anymore. I just want to win.”

Regardless of what exact number he produces, Laine’s career-average 14.7% shooting rate should be a boon to a Montreal offense that’s finished in the league’s basement the last few years. He’s only hit the 40-goal plateau once in his sophomore season with Winnipeg in 2017-18, but he’s hit or been on pace for 30 goals five other times, often limited by injuries.

Elsewhere from the Eastern Conference:

  • Team official site contributor Bill Meltzer relays that the Flyers are interested in bringing in free-agent netminder Eetu Mäkiniemi for a professional tryout. Philadelphia already has a pair of netminders under contract slated for minor-league action this season in Alexei Kolosov and buried veteran Calvin Petersen. However, the former’s availability is uncertain amid his reported preference to return to Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk on loan. Mäkiniemi, 25, became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this summer after spending the last two seasons in the Sharks organization. He split last year between the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda and the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder, posting a .900 SV% in 18 AHL contests and a .907 SV% in three ECHL games. The Finn was a fourth-round pick of the Hurricanes in 2017 and found his way to San Jose in the 2022 Brent Burns trade.
  • The Rangers have hired Shaun Sutter as an amateur scout, Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports. His familiar last name isn’t a coincidence – he’s the son of former Blues captain Brian Sutter and the nephew of Stanley Cup-winning head coach Darryl Sutter. The 44-year-old has spent the last 13 years with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League, including the last 10 as an assistant/associate general manager. He’ll presumably stick to scouting the region he’s developed an innate familiarity with over the past decade-plus.

Blake McLaughlin Signs With AHL Hartford

at CDT | by 2 Comments

  • Forward Blake McLaughlin has inked a one-year deal with AHL Hartford (affiliate of the Rangers), per a team release. The 24-year-old split last season between the AHL and ECHL, notching two assists in 29 games with AHL San Diego but was much more productive with ECHL Tulsa, recording 25 points in 21 appearances but it wasn’t enough to earn a qualifying offer earlier this summer.

Gilles Léger Passes Away At Age 83

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

The NHL is mourning the passing of Gilles Léger, a long-time executive who spent time with three organizations in a career spanning from 1979-2020. Outside of his work in the NHL, Léger spent time as a coach and a general manager in the CIAU and WHA.

After the World Hockey Association ceased operations at the end of the 1978-79 season, Léger made his way to the Quebec Nordiques as a director of player development in their first year of operations. Advancing to the role of assistant general manager for the team in 1984-85, Léger helped acquire the likes of Peter Forsberg, Guy Lafleur, Joe Sakic, Peter Stastny, and Mats Sundin to the expansion franchise. Unfortunately, with financial hardships leading to a sale of the Nordiques to COMSAT Entertainment Group after the 1994-95 season, Léger was not brought along with the team in their relocation to Denver, CO.

It would take three years for Léger to pick up another opportunity at the NHL level, this time with the Edmonton Oilers as a pro scout. When legendary general manager Glen Sather left the Oilers to take on the GM vacancy with the New York Rangers, Léger came along as a pro scout. The move to New York ended up being Léger’s last stop along his NHL journey. After two decades serving as a pro scout in the Rangers’ organization, Léger retired at the end of the 2019-20 season at 79 years old.

Léger’s story is of tremendous success as he parlayed a head coaching role with St. Francis Xavier University into four decades of work in the NHL. PHR sends our condolences to the Léger family.

Sam Rosen To Retire At End Of 2024-25 Season

at CDT | by 2 Comments

  • Longtime play-by-play announcer for the New York Rangers, Sam Rosen, is set to retire after the 2024-25 NHL season according to Dan Rosen of the NHL. Rosen began his career as a backup radio host with the Rangers for the 1977-78 season and saw the organization win their first Stanley Cup in over 50 years. The Rangers will have some big shoes to fill when the current longest-serving, Hall of Fame announcer hangs them up at the end of the year.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Sam Rosen To Retire At The End Of The Season

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Calgary Flames defenseman Yan Kuznetsov believes that he will take a big step in his development this upcoming season and is hoping a change to his training will allow him to do so (as per Flames writer Chris Wahl). The 22-year-old was re-signed to a one-year, two-way deal by the Flames yesterday after making his NHL debut last season, dressing in one game for Calgary. The former second-round pick believes that he is entering next season in the best shape of his career and is hoping that by being in tune with his body it will better allow him to use his size to his advantage as he pushes for an NHL roster spot with the Flames.

In other news from around the NHL:

  • Edmonton Oilers announcer Bob Stauffer tweeted about the Oilers’ current offer sheet conundrum with defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway. The Oilers are currently on the clock after the St. Louis Blues issued a pair of offer sheets and have one week to match the offers or lose the players for draft pick compensation. Stauffer outlines in his tweet that if the Oilers elect to match the lucrative offer sheets, they will have to keep Broberg and Holloway for at least a year, which could be challenging given that they will need to issue lucrative extensions to Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard next summer.
  • The MSG Network has announced that New York Rangers television play-by-play broadcaster Sam Rosen will retire after the upcoming NHL season. The 77-year-old is entering his 40th year calling Rangers games full-time after he began calling New York games on the radio for MSG, filling in for Marv Albert. He then pivoted to becoming MSG’s studio host before moving into his current role as the Rangers’ primary television broadcaster in 1984.
  • Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrick Allvin spoke with Swedish network hockeysverige.se about Nils Åman and the contract extension he gave the center this past season. The 24-year-old signed a two-year deal worth $825K per season and proceeded to post three goals and four assists in 43 NHL games this past year. Allvin mentioned that he was impressed by Åman’s finish to the season and felt that he had become more assertive on the ice and played with more of an edge. Allvin added that he was hopeful that Åman would continue to develop this summer and build off the success he had in the second half.

Snapshots: Draisaitl, Zegras, Lee, Preseason Schedule

at CDT | by 1 Comment

Leon Draisaitl’s recent eligibility to sign a contract extension will be one of the bigger storylines late in the offseason, but it doesn’t appear there’s much of anything new to report since Stan Bowman took over the reins as general manager a couple of weeks ago, the executive said to NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.

“I had a good conversation (with Draisaitl’s agent Mike Liut) and we’re starting things off and the timing on that will be what it will be,” Bowman said. “I don’t have an update of where it’s going to be or the timing on that, but there is nothing negative to report, certainly.”

The initial contact between Bowman and Draisaitl’s camp reignites extension talks that began back in June with acting GM Jeff Jackson. Draisaitl’s European-based agent, Jiri Poner, told a German news outlet early last month that the ball was in Edmonton’s court to make a competitive offer. Things seem on a slow but positive track for the German superstar, who’s coming off a 41-goal, 106-point campaign in 2023-24.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Ducks forward Trevor Zegras has continued to draw trade interest from around the league this summer, and some speculated a return to his New York home could be in the cards. That doesn’t appear to be the case, though, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic said in a recent mailbag that he doesn’t “think the Rangers have ever been interested in Zegras, much as the local kid would love to be a Ranger.”
  • There have been questions about Islanders captain Anders Lee’s future with the club after a trying campaign that saw him limited to 20 goals and 37 points in 81 games, his lowest offensive output in a healthy season since 2015-16. But it appears the 34-year-old is here to stay for the final two years of his contract at a $7MM cap hit, GM Lou Lamoriello told Staple. “You’re talking about a consummate pro: high integrity, high character, team first,” Lamoriello said. “I’d say he was one of our better players in the playoffs. That should answer any questions you might have — how he responded to whatever role he was asked to play.”
  • We’re just 46 days away from NHL hockey returning to laptops, radios and TVs. The league announced its complete composite preseason schedule today, which will kick off on Sep. 21 with a trio of games involving the Penguins and Sabres, the Blues and Stars, and the Wild and Jets. The Utah Hockey Club will take the ice for the first time in preseason action the following day, hosting the Blues for a neutral site game in Des Moines, Iowa. The preseason will run for two weeks, drawing to a close on Oct. 5.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

scroll to top