Rangers Activate K’Andre Miller, Assign Chad Ruhwedel To AHL
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
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.
Rangers Healthy Scratch Chris Kreider
The Rangers have made veteran winger Chris Kreider a healthy scratch for today’s game against the Devils, Peter Baugh of The Athletic reports. Aside from a pair of late-season precautionary scratches in 2017 and 2022, it’s the first time he’ll sit in the press box while healthy for the Blueshirts since his rookie season in 2013-14.
Much has been made of Kreider’s brutal 2024-25 campaign. After three straight seasons of at least 35 goals, Kreider has 11 in 30 games this season but has added just one assist for 12 points with a -4 rating, his first time in the red since 2020-21. He’s averaging 17:26 per game, his lowest figure since 2020-21, and has three points in 11 games since Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported on Nov. 25 that the Rangers were dangling him and now former captain Jacob Trouba in trade talks.
It’s unclear if Kreider’s scratch is purely performance-based or if it’s to avoid an injury before a trade. No deal will be made in the next few days, but today is the Rangers’ last game before the roster freeze lifts on Dec. 28.
Kreider’s struggles have underscored much more significant issues with the Rangers, who have now fallen to .500 after starting the season 12-4-1. They’ve gone 4-12-0 in their last 16 games. They could end today in last place in the Metropolitan Division with a regulation loss at New Jersey and wins for the Blue Jackets and Islanders, an unimaginable position for last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners this far into the season.
Despite Kreider’s underwhelming performance, he’s bounced around the depth chart very little. He’s spent most of the season stapled to Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith on the team’s second line, skating there in 24 of his 30 appearances. While he leads the trio in goal-scoring, he’s the weak link in overall point production. Zibanejad has 21 points in 33 appearances, still far below expectations, while Smith has 16 in 32. All of them have struggled defensively, controlling only 47.8% of expected goals together, per MoneyPuck. Rookie Brett Berard will skate in Kreider’s usual second-line left-wing spot today, according to Mollie Walker of the New York Post. He hasn’t been much of a factor offensively either since being recalled last month, posting two goals and an assist in 11 games with a -5 rating and underwhelming possession metrics.
Kreider, 33, is only three seasons removed from leading the league in power-play goals (26) and game-winners (11). From 2021-22 through 2023-24, his 127 goals were seventh in the league behind Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrňák, Connor McDavid, Mikko Rantanen, and Kirill Kaprizov. He’s accumulated 315 tallies and 564 points in 845 appearances, all with the Rangers, dating back to his regular-season debut in 2013. That’s good enough for third in franchise history in goals and 10th in points.
Miller Questionable For Monday
- Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller missed today’s game and remains listed as day-to-day, mentions NHL.com’s Dan Rosen (Twitter link). New York was hoping that he’d be able to return from his upper-body injury but evidently, he wasn’t quite ready to do so. The Rangers are in action on Monday against New Jersey so it’s possible that he returns then or they could opt to give him a few more days of rest over the break. Miller has just six points in 30 games so far while sitting second in ice time among blueliners at over 21 minutes a night.
Rangers’ Matt Rempe Suspended Eight Games
Rangers winger Matt Rempe has been assessed an eight-game suspension by the league’s Department of Player Safety for a boarding/elbowing infraction against Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen, the league announced.
Rempe laid the hit on Heiskanen (explained further here) in the third period of Friday’s 3-1 win. He was ejected on the play, the fourth time he’s faced such discipline in his 22-game NHL career. He was also assessed a two-minute minor for elbowing on the play, as well as an additional roughing minor in the aftermath. Unsurprisingly, after being suspended four games for a similar infraction against Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler in March last season, he was offered an in-person hearing, which gives DoPS the option of suspending him for six games or more.
Rempe already missed today’s loss to the Hurricanes, so he has seven more games to serve. He’s considered a repeat offender under Player Safety guidelines and will forfeit $80K in salary during his suspension, relays Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic. He’ll still count against the active roster and the team’s salary cap during that time, reducing the Rangers’ flexibility for an extended period. He can appeal the suspension to league commissioner Gary Bettman, so it’s possible he might be back earlier than Jan. 9 against the Devils if he’s successful.
The incident was one of many controversial ones in Rempe’s young career. The 22-year-old, who the Blueshirts selected 165th overall in the 2020 draft, has accumulated 95 PIMs in just 22 appearances over the last two seasons while averaging 5:46 of ice time per game. The wealth of time spent in the dressing room or in the penalty box has limited his effectiveness offensively and put the Rangers in more shorthanded situations than they’d like, although it’s also worth noting he’s drawn the most penalties per 60 minutes of any Ranger over the last two seasons.
The 6’8″, 240-lb winger has spent most of this season on assignment to AHL Hartford, where he has three goals, two assists and 22 PIMs in 18 showings with a -3 rating. His game against Dallas was only his fifth NHL appearance of the season.
In the meantime, Rempe’s absence will secure more ice time for developing depth options like Brett Berard and Adam Edstrom. They still have veteran Jonny Brodzinski on hand as an extra forward to enter the lineup if necessary as well.
Matt Rempe Offered In-Person Hearing With Department Of Player Safety
Rangers winger Matt Rempe got an opportunity to return to New York following the trade of Kaapo Kakko earlier in the week. He made a big impression in his first game back but not the one he was necessarily looking to make. The NHL announced today that he has been offered an in-person hearing for a hit made on Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen on Friday; a clip of the hit via B/R Open Ice can be found here.
The hit came in the third period last night, one that saw him receive a five-minute major for elbowing along with a game misconduct. Notably, the league’s release indicates that both elbowing and boarding are among the grounds being considered for supplemental discipline.
By offering an in-person hearing, the NHL now has the ability to suspend Rempe for more than five games which is the maximum had it been a telephone hearing. That said, them offering it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll receive six or more games either. The Department of Player Safety relayed later in the day (Twitter link) that the hearing will be held on Sunday.
Rempe has played in 22 career regular season games and this was the fourth ejection of his young career. He has been suspended once before, that coming back in March when he received a four-game ban for elbowing. He will fall under repeat offender status when it comes to determining both the length of suspension and the calculation of forfeited wages where the denominator will be 82 (representing games) instead of the number of days in a particular season.
Rangers Recall Matt Rempe, Assign Victor Mancini To AHL
The Kaapo Kakko swap wasn’t the only transaction the Rangers made today. Not long after the trade was made official, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Matt Rempe from AHL Hartford while re-assigning defenseman Victor Mancini to the Wolf Pack.
Rempe made his presence felt down the stretch last season and earned a spot with New York in training camp. However, the 22-year-old didn’t play much early on and since he’s still waiver-exempt, the team has elected to largely keep him in the minors this season, allowing him to get more playing time while playing a bigger role than he has typically had with the big club.
With the Rangers, Rempe has been limited to just four games this season where he has been held off the scoresheet although he has seven hits and seven penalty minutes in just 6:26 of playing time per night, an uptick from the 5:38 he played last night. In Hartford, he has suited up 18 times, picking up three goals and two assists along with 22 penalty minutes.
As for Mancini, the 22-year-old is in his first professional season after wrapping up his college career at the University of Nebraska-Omaha last year. Ideally, New York’s preference would have been for him to play big minutes in the minors but a strong early showing down there plus a need to help their back end has resulted in him primarily playing for the Rangers. With the addition of William Borgen, they can now allow Mancini to get that bigger playing time in Hartford.
Mancini has played in 15 games with New York so far this season, picking up a goal and four assists while logging 15:05 per night of playing time. He has also played in six games with the Wolf Pack, recording five points. His cap hit is $50K higher than Rempe’s, allowing them to offset a small portion of the extra $300K pro-rated that they took on in the Kakko-Borgen swap.
Kraken Acquire Kaapo Kakko
The Kraken have added some extra depth up front, acquiring winger Kaapo Kakko from the Rangers. In return, New York receives defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2025 sixth-round selection. Both teams have announced the swap.
Kakko was the second overall pick in 2019 but while he has shown flashes of being an impact player, he has also struggled to produce with consistency over his now-six-year career. The 23-year-old has only reached the 40-point mark once thus far, that coming back in 2022-23 when he had 18 goals and 22 assists in 82 games. His output dipped to just 19 points in 61 games last season, resulting in the two sides agreeing on a one-year, $2.4MM contract back in June, a move that didn’t do anything to slow the trade speculation surrounding him.
This move comes not long after Kakko voiced his frustration with being a healthy scratch over the weekend as the Rangers continued to try to shake up their lineup to snap their recent drought. That frustration was justifiable as he is off to a reasonable start this year, picking up four goals and ten assists in 30 games despite spending a lot of time in the bottom six, averaging just 13:17 per contest. Hovering around half a point per game in that role is certainly decent output, one that Seattle will welcome to add to an offensive group that sits in the middle of the pack.
As for Borgen, the soon-to-be 28-year-old has been a physical presence over his four-year tenure with Seattle who selected him from Buffalo in the expansion draft. Last season, he posted career bests in assists (22), points (25), blocked shots (111), hits (195), and ATOI (17:35) and looked to be on his way toward a bigger role on the back end. However, that hasn’t exactly been the case this season as he has been limited to just one goal and one assist in 33 games while his playing time has dropped to 15:12 per night, a career low.
Despite his struggles, NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reports (Twitter link) that the Rangers had been coveting Borgen for a while. With the departure of Jacob Trouba to Anaheim, they needed a bit more defensive depth and this move should allow Victor Mancini to return to AHL Hartford where he can have a bigger role. Borgen is also in the final season of his contract, one that pays him $2.7MM so New York takes on a small amount of money with this swap. Notably, he’s eligible for unrestricted free agency this summer while Kakko will have one more RFA year remaining.
Considering his draft stature, it seems like a fairly low price for Seattle to pay to acquire Kakko and they’ll hope that a change of scenery can help unlock the offensive potential that helped make him the number two pick. Meanwhile, with New York seemingly unsure about committing a long-term deal to him, they’ve elected to make a move more geared toward the present rather than trying to maximize value in the form of higher draft or prospect compensation. With the two selections they added, they now have seven for the upcoming draft.
Interestingly, the 2019 draft class has seen quite a few first-round picks moved already. As Peter Baugh of The Athletic points out (Twitter link), eight of the top 19 selections from that year have already been traded, including three of the top four selections. Among those who haven’t moved, a couple (Dylan Cozens and Trevor Zegras) have been in trade speculation themselves in recent months so the number of high picks on the move from that class could be growing even more soon enough.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rangers’ Kaapo Kakko Frustrated With Healthy Scratch
New York Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko spoke openly at Tuesday’s practice about being healthy scratched on Sunday night. He told media, including Peter Baugh of The Athletic, that he was surprised by the decision and that he felt head coach Peter Laviolette may have been singling out the young guy. Kakko went on to say, “Nobody’s playing great right now… I haven’t been on the ice too much when they score a goal. I have not been the worst.”
Kakko’s vocal stance against his scratching ring loud on a Rangers team that’s gone 3-7-0 in their last 10 games. But his recent efforts might not be strong enough to back the pride. He has just one assist in six games since December 1st – making him one of the lowest-scoring forwards on the team in that span, next to Adam Edstrom (zero points, seven games) and Brett Berard (one point in four games). Both players have also recorded more shots, hits, and blocks than Kakko as of late – painting a clearer picture of why Laviolette opted to scratch the 2019 second-overall pick. The decision didn’t do much to change New York’s fate. They went on to lose 3-2 against St. Louis, though Berard scored the Rangers’ first goal of the game.
The lost games and hard feelings seem to be pulling both the Rangers, and their fourth-highest draft selection in club history, into a new low. Kakko is no stranger to being healthy scratched, having sat out of multiple regular season and Conference Finals games before – but he’s rarely been so vocal. His comments could drive the wedge between player and club even further, bringing more energy to trade rumors that stretch as far back as 2022. The Rangers have said they aren’t looking to make any more moves after dealing captain Jacob Trouba to the Anaheim Ducks, but they may need to bank on Kakko’s value sooner rather than later. He hit a low last season, netting just 19 points in 61 games after a career-high 40 points in 2022-23. And while he’s bounced back from that a bit this year with a much more promising 14 points in 29 games, he seems to be falling into old struggles once again.
New York could find reasonable replacements on the open market, with St. Louis Blues winger Brandon Saad the easiest choice. Saad has totaled 138 points in 259 games and four seasons with the Blues and tended to operate out of the team’s middle-six. The Blues have shown no hesitancy making bold moves this season – recently acquiring career-Anaheim Duck Cam Fowler – and reportedly have Saad on their trade block. The details of swapping a young, former second-overall pick for a 30-year-old would certainly be nuanced, but the trade could certainly be a quick option.
For now, any trade speculation is just that. Kakko said he’s motivated to return to the lineup, and Laviolette batted away questions about his comments. The head coach mentioned that older players have sat as well – citing Reilly Smith and Jonny Brodzinski – and that it’s okay for Kakko to be upset. Brodzinski is expected to step out of the lineup again on Tuesday to make room for Kakko’s return. Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen is also expected to make his Rangers debut on Tuesday, after being acquired in the trade that sent Trouba to Anaheim. Vaakanainen brings much-needed shutdown defense to the team that’s allowed the fifth-most goals in December. New York will hope that can prove a difference-maker before they’re forced to explore the trade market, or begin questioning more engrained veterans.
Rangers Notes: Panarin, Kakko, Laviolette, Trades
The New York Rangers announced earlier today that star forward Artemi Panarin would not play tonight against the St. Louis Blues and is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. It’s not exactly clear when the 33-year-old’s injury occurred but it is more bad news for a team that fell out of a playoff spot last night.
Panarin currently leads New York in scoring with 15 goals and 21 assists in 29 games and has been one of the few Rangers stars to meet offensive expectations thus far. New York ranks 20th in the NHL in offense and outside of Panarin, just three other Rangers forwards have topped 20 points on the season, with the next closest being William Cuylle with 22 points in 29 games.
In other Rangers notes:
- Arthur Staple of The Athletic tweeted that Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko was a healthy scratch today against St. Louis. Kakko’s scratch will surely add fuel to the trade rumors about the former second-overall pick. The 23-year-old is mired in a slump that has seen him produce just a goal and two assists in his past 12 games. Kakko’s offensive numbers are up from last season, but many of his underlying numbers are down and he’s received favorable deployment, starting nearly 60% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone.
- Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported that the Rangers have no appetite to make a coaching change at this time and Peter Laviolette’s job is not in jeopardy. The Rangers have made several coaching changes in recent years, firing Gerard Gallant two years ago and David Quinn four years ago. Laviolette is in his second season In New York and took the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. He is not even halfway through the three-year contract that the Rangers gave him in June 2023 that pays him a salary just shy of $5MM annually (as per TSN’s Pierre LeBrun).
- Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet is reporting that the Rangers have essentially put a for-sale sign-out and are listening to trade offers on just about everyone in their lineup other than goalie Igor Shesterkin and those with no-movement clauses (Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Adam Fox). The Rangers have been in a free fall since starting the season 5-0-1 and are just 3-7 in their last ten games.