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Antti Raanta Leaves Game Two With An Injury

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A day after Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith left Game One against the Rangers during overtime, another netminder has been injured.  This time, it’s Hurricanes netminder Antti Raanta who left early in the first period in the second game of their opening round series against the Bruins.

The injury – which can be viewed on a tweet from Carolina team reporter Walt Ruff – occurred on a hit from Boston winger David Pastrnak.  It was initially ruled as a five-minute major but after review, it was overturned to a two-minute minor.

There’s never an ideal time for an injury but this one is particularly impactful for the Hurricanes as they remain without starter Frederik Andersen who is also injured.  While the team hopes he’ll be able to play at some point in the first round, there is no firm timetable for his return.

This meant that Pyotr Kochetkov, who only made his NHL debut less than two weeks ago, was pressed into duty.  He has a 2.42 GAA along with a .902 SV% in his first three NHL appearances.  Meanwhile, Jack LaFontaine is serving as Carolina’s emergency goaltender and will be the backup for the rest of the game with Raanta unable to return.  He was convinced to leave college midseason to turn pro and got into two games with Carolina plus 13 more with AHL Chicago.

 

Rangers' Black Aces Revealed

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  • One of the aspects of building a potential Stanley Cup-winning team that is often highly important but also somewhat under-recognized is the impact of a team’s organizational depth. A team’s organizational depth is flexed through their “black aces,” or the players who are attached to their team as they compete in the playoffs but don’t dress for games on a regular basis. They are the players who are around to be ready at a moment’s notice, and with the brutal nature of playoff hockey, it is more likely than not that a team will have to dip into their reserves of players as they go deep into the playoffs. The New York Rangers hope to be one of those teams going deep into the playoffs, and today Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported the group of players who will make up the Rangers’ Black Aces. The Rangers will have a group of seven players, per Brooks: Zac Jones, Nils Lundkvist, Matthew Robertson, Jarred Tinordi, Lauri Pajuniemi, Tim Gettinger, and Keith Kinkaid.

Metropolitan Notes: Marchenko, Morehouse, Panarin, Copp

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It is only a matter of time now before prospect Kirill Marchenko officially signs with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Marchenko, 21, has finished his KHL season, as SKA St. Petersburg fell in the conference finals of the Gagarin Cup playoffs, and he isn’t wasting any time making his next move. While his contract does not officially end until April 30, like many of his SKA teammates Marchenko is already negotiating his next deal. Russian source Sport Express reports that Marchenko will soon sign his two-year entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets. The 2018 second round pick is coming off a 20-point KHL season, finish fifth for St. Petersburg in scoring – a notable feat for a player of his age in a league with many accomplished veterans. A big, rangy winger with a goal scorer’s mentality, Marchenko figures to be yet another young impact player next season for a Columbus team that will have Yegor Chinakhov, Cole Sillinger, and Kent Johnson up front as well.

  • After 16 years on the job and contributing to three Stanley Cup titles, Pittsburgh Penguins CEO David Morehouse has stepped down, the team announced. The Penguins’ release states that Morehouse made the decision himself, though the move comes not long after the team was sold to the Fenway Sports Group which may have played a role. Morehouse, a Pittsburgh native, joined the team in 2007 to spearhead the arena construction project that became Consol Energy Center and now PPG Paints Arena. Not only did Morehouse oversee the construction of the arena, but played a key role in filling the seats as well. Morehouse played a role in a number of strategic initiative and capital projects that have taken advantage of the Penguins’ lengthy stretch of consistent success to help build one of the NHL’s most valuable franchises.
  • Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp both left Tuesday night’s game between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes due to injury, but head coach Gerard Gallant was adamant that these were precautionary measures. He told NHL.com’s Dan Rosen that both would have returned if it was a playoff game. There is reason to be skeptical of these comments though. First, last night’s game was virtually a playoff game; the Rangers faced the Hurricanes in a must-win for New York if they hoped to take the division crown from Carolina. Even more interesting though was the Rangers’ lineup for tonight’s game. New York understandably kept a number of starters in the press box for the contest with Tuesday’s loss cementing their playoff position. However, rather than listed as a health scratch like the rest, Panarin and Copp were listed as injured. Rosen reports that Panarin is out with an upper-body issue and Copp with a lower-body issue. In case this ends up being a strategic move by the Rangers to downplay these injuries ahead of a seven-game series, the health of Panarin and Copp bears watching.

Copp, Kakko, And Chytil Game-Time Decisions For Tuesday

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  • The Rangers have listed forwards Andrew Copp, Kaapo Kakko, and Filip Chytil as game-time decisions for their game on Tuesday against Carolina as they look to stay in the mix for the top spot in the division, notes Ethan Sears of the New York Post. Copp (lower body) and Chytil (undisclosed) were both injured on Thursday while Kakko has been out for a week and a half with a lower-body injury and received a week-to-week designation at the time.  Even if they don’t play on Tuesday, all three were full participants in practice which bodes well for their availability when the playoffs start next week.

Sabres Previously Showed Interest In Alexandar Georgiev

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The Sabres have shown interest in Rangers goaltender Alexandar Georgiev in the past, notes Lance Lysowski of The Buffalo News.  Buffalo is in need of goaltending for next season regardless of whether or not they plan to have Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen jump up full-time to the NHL or not.  Georgiev is a strong candidate this summer given New York’s salary cap situation and while the 26-year-old has had a tough year (a GAA of 2.91 and a SV% of just .898 in 31 games), there could still be a bit of upside left to make him a worthwhile short-term option.  They have shown interest in bringing back Craig Anderson and the veteran could be a good mentor if Luukkonen is on the roster in a platoon situation.

Copp, Chytil Both Listed As Day-To-Day

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  • The Rangers won’t have forwards Andrew Copp (lower-body injury) and Filip Chytil (upper-body injury) in the lineup on Saturday against Boston, relays Mollie Walker of the New York Post. Both players were injured on Thursday (Copp’s came after scoring a natural hat trick in the first period) and are currently listed as day-to-day.

Snapshots: Kakko, Acciari, Clinching Scenarios

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It’s no secret that New York Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko has had some tough injury luck this season. He was sidelined in late January with an upper-body injury, missing about two and a half months before returning. He played just four games before suffering another injury, this time lower-body in nature, but head coach Gerard Gallant believes Kakko, who was injured on April 16th against Detroit, is expected back for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (if not sooner).

Kakko hasn’t exceeded expectations by any means on the scoresheet this season, tallying just seven goals, nine assists, and 16 points through 41 games this year. The pending restricted free agent was one of the Rangers’ best defensive forwards prior to the team’s post-deadline resurgence in that regard, so it’s not as though he hasn’t brought any real value to the table this season.

  • Noel Acciari is returning to the Florida Panthers lineup once again tonight against Detroit. The veteran forward has missed most of the season due to a combination of injuries, and now, he rejoins the team after missing 10 games with an undisclosed injury. Acciari has one goal and five points in 14 games this year.
  • Clinching scenarios remain boundless for tonight’s 11-game slate, with many matches still having playoff implications despite 12 out of 16 teams already clinching playoff berths. The Florida Panthers can clinch both the Atlantic Division and regular-season Eastern Conference titles with a win against Detroit, provided the Tampa Bay Lightning also defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs in any fashion. The Calgary Flames will also clinch the Pacific Division title with a win of any kind against the Dallas Stars. Toronto and Carolina can also clinch home-ice advantage in the First Round, while the Wild and Blues can lock in a First Round matchup against each other.

Snapshots: Seattle, Kakko, Blues-Coyotes

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The Seattle Kraken have added some famous names to their ownership group, adding Marshawn Lynch and Macklemore as minority investors. The two will “lead major Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena initiatives to connect with hockey fans, music lovers, and community members alike.” Though the on-ice results haven’t come yet for the expansion franchise, the ownership group, led by billionaire David Bonderman, have already established a strong connection to the Seattle area.

More from around the league:

  • The New York Rangers have ruled Kaapo Kakko out on a week-to-week basis, following his injury against the Detroit Red Wings this weekend. The young forward had only recently returned from an upper-body injury that stole nearly three months of his season. In 41 games so far, Kakko has just 16 points, a career-low, despite averaging more ice time when he is in the lineup. Two of his seven goals came last week against the Philadelphia Flyers, suggesting he was back on the right track; he was injured the following game.
  • The St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes will play a preseason game in Witchita, Kansas next season, in the home of the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder. The two squads will do battle on September 24 in the 15,000-seat arena, giving a whole new fanbase a taste of NHL action. The full slate of preseason games will not be released until later this summer.

Tyler Motte Out For The Rest Of The Regular Season

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Not long before the trade deadline hit, the Rangers sent a 2023 fourth-round draft pick to Vancouver to pick up winger Tyler Motte with an eye on deepening their bottom six and adding some more grit to their roster.  Unfortunately for them, they haven’t been able to use Motte much so far due to injury, one that head coach Gerard Gallant acknowledged to Mollie Walker of the New York Post will keep him out at least for the rest of the regular season.  A return for the playoffs is far from a guarantee either as Gallant indicated that “I just heard he’s out for quite a while”.

The 27-year-old played in nine games before suffering an upper-body injury last month and while he was held without a point, he averaged three hits a game while playing primarily on the fourth line while taking a regular turn shorthanded as well.  With Vancouver, Motte had 15 points and 90 hits in 49 games and was in the middle of making a case for a decent-sized raise on his $1.225MM AAV as he gets set to reach the open market for the first time this summer.

Fortunately for the Rangers, they have a surplus of forwards at the moment as evidenced by the 16 healthy ones they have on their active roster.  Alexis Lafreniere got the night off on Wednesday and Gallant indicated they’d be looking to get some regulars some rest over the final couple of weeks of the season (Ryan Reaves is sitting today).  But most of those 16 don’t play the type of role that Motte does and New York will undoubtedly be hoping that he’ll be able to return at some point in the playoffs.

Kravtsov Will Not Join Rangers For Playoff Run

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The New York Rangers are primed for a legitimate Stanley Cup run, but it appears as though their malcontent prospect will not be joining them. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that instead of joining the Rangers for the playoff run, Vitali Kravtsov will begin his offseason training regimen in Russia, with the plan of arriving in New York well ahead of training camp.

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