The New York Rangers are the focus of many right now as they try to turn the corner from rebuilding to a contender, and a huge part of that success will be the continued star play of reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic writes in his latest that a Fox extension should be the entire focus of the Rangers front office right now, lest they put themselves in a trickier situation next summer. LeBrun writes that the Rangers and Fox’s agent Matt Keator have had “very preliminary talks.”
Rangers Rumors
New York Rangers Recall Morgan Barron
A simple recall of a forward is not usually important news, but for the New York Rangers today, it could reveal more about a different top prospect. The team has recalled Morgan Barron from the Hartford Wolf Pack, moving Kaapo Kakko to injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
Baron’s recall is not really surprising. The 22-year-old has come a long way since being a sixth-round pick in 2017 and was already on the fringe of making the roster out of camp. The 6’4″ forward played five games for the Rangers last season, scoring his first NHL goal. He has two goals in his first two AHL games of this season, continuing to show that he can be a dominant force at that level.
It’s the fact that the spot didn’t go to Vitali Kravtsov that is the headline here, as the disgruntled forward remains in limbo. Refusing an assignment to the AHL, Kravtsov and his representatives have been given permission to seek a trade. Last night on Hockey Night In Canada, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman updated the situation:
I understand the Rangers have asked him ’would you like to go to AHL Hartford and work your way back up?’ Kaapo Kakko got hurt tonight. At this point in time he hasn’t agreed, I don’t know if he will, but the offer is out there for him to return.
Russ Cohen of Sportsology reports that Kravtsov is back in Chelyabinsk and was at the Traktor-Dynamo game today. Cohen adds that he’s been told there are five NHL teams interested.
Meanwhile, Kakko will miss at least seven days after being placed on injured reserve, but no definite timeline has been released for his potential return. Head coach Gerard Gallant called him “day-to-day” after the game, but there has been no update other than the IR placement since.
Focus Turns To Adam Fox After McAvoy Contract
When a player approaches unrestricted free agency, there are many things for him to consider when it comes to where his hockey journey will continue. Market, team strength, coaching staff, and potential linemates are all considered, which sometimes leads to a (small) haircut or a (not as small) overpay in terms of overall salary. When a player is approaching restricted free agency, things are a bit different.
While technically there are options for an RFA to play overseas or chase down an offer sheet to change markets, in practice it’s basically only negotiating with one team. That means many of those factors disappear, and the biggest thing brought up in negotiations is contract comparables.
On Friday, the Boston Bruins signed Charlie McAvoy to a massive eight-year, $76MM contract extension that kicks in after his short-term bridge deal expires next summer. That negotiation had a direct comparable to work from; Zach Werenski, also heading into the final season of his bridge deal, signed a six-year $57.5MM deal earlier this summer. Among the other recent contracts that were likely considered were Cale Makar’s six-year, $54MM extension, Miro Heiskanen’s eight-year, $67.6MM deal, and even Quinn Hughes’ six-year $47.1MM agreement signed just a few weeks ago. The massive deals for Seth Jones, Darnell Nurse, and Dougie Hamilton are all buying out UFA years, so aren’t quite as important when it comes to young defensemen who are still in their RFA seasons.
Almost before the ink was dry on McAvoy’s deal, hockey fans and writers were all looking around for who his deal will impact the most when the next round of negotiations come up. The answer may be Adam Fox who is currently eligible for an extension and will be an RFA for the first time next summer.
There’s no doubt about it, the Rangers are going to have to pay up for the reigning Norris Trophy winner. On Sportsnet radio yesterday, Elliotte Friedman expressed as much:
I think it’s a massive number. I think the Rangers know it’s going to be a massive number, and they’ll get it done. Will it be the biggest contract by a defenseman? It sure could be. The Rangers have to be looking at these guys around $9.5MM (AAV) and going ’that might not cut it here.’
While Friedman doesn’t suggest he has any information on the status of the negotiations between Fox and the Rangers, he’s not the only one wondering about the defensemen’s next contract. Mollie Walker of the New York Post writes about Fox’s great start—a goal and an assist in the first two games of the season while logging more than 23 minutes in each–including how it will affect his next deal. Colin Stephenson of Newsday wonders if it’s possible to get a “hometown discount” from the Jericho, New York native, in order to allow the Rangers to assemble a strong supporting cast. Finally, Adam Kennedy of The Hockey News wonders aloud what everyone is thinking, in his column headlined “Is Adam Fox Worth $10 Million Per Season?”
Of the 14 players who carry a cap hit of at least $10MM next season, just two of them are defensemen. Erik Karlsson, the league’s highest-paid defender, signed his eight-year, $92MM just before hitting unrestricted free agency. Drew Doughty’s eight-year, $88MM deal also bought out only UFA years. To this point in the cap era, no defenseman has crossed the $10MM per season threshold on their second contract, as forwards Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Mitch Marner have.
If Fox is the first, it will also make the Rangers the fifth team in the league to carry at least two $10MM+ contracts simultaneously (the Florida Panthers will become the fourth when Aleksander Barkov’s extension kicks in next season, joining Sergei Bobrovsky). Not only that, but they also have Mika Zibanejad and Jacob Trouba combining for $16.5MM.
There’s certainly no guarantee he does eclipse that mark, and any discussion of it assumes that he is signing a long-term deal with New York. But things will certainly get tricky when it comes to a salary cap that is only expected to jump $1MM per year until 2025. Whatever it ends up being, there’s a good chance any future defenseman will have a new upper-limit comparable to work from when their own negotiations come around down the road.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Rangers Sign Pierre-Cedric Labrie To AHL Tryout
- The Rangers have inked veteran forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie to an AHL tryout. The 35-year-old is no stranger to the minors, playing in 629 games over parts of 13 seasons while recording over 1,100 penalty minutes. Labrie last saw NHL action with Tampa Bay back in 2013-14 and spent the last two seasons in Germany with Eisbaren Berlin.
Ryan Strome Placed In COVID Protocol, Will Miss Saturday’s Game
The New York Rangers announced Friday afternoon that center Ryan Strome has entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol. He’ll be unavailable for Saturday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.
With forward Sammy Blais listed as day-to-day, the Rangers have also recalled Greg McKegg from the Hartford Wolf Pack to have 12 active skaters for their next game.
The circumstances of Strome’s placement on the protocol list are unknown, but he could miss up to 10 days if he can’t produce two negative tests. That could potentially be five missed games for Strome, making him eligible to return on October 29 against the Columbus Blue Jackets. However, he can come back sooner if he produces the aforementioned negative tests.
In Strome’s absence, it’s likely a chance for the young Filip Chytil to step into the second-line center role between Artemi Panarin and Kaapo Kakko. It’s an undeniable upgrade from his current wingers in Barclay Goodrow and Julien Gauthier, and it gives him a chance to show some promise of what he can do in a top-six role. McKegg could draw into the lineup as the fourth-line center, bumping Kevin Rooney up to third-line duties between Goodrow and Gauthier.
The Rangers will look to get their first win of the season without Strome against a similarly hobbled Canadiens team that’s still missing Joel Edmundson, Mike Hoffman, Carey Price, and others.
Injury Notes: Boeser, Severson, Perron, Hoffman
While Vancouver fans are relieved to see Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes back in action after they signed new contracts to stay with the team, they’ll have to wait a bit longer to see one of their young core members debut this season. Head coach Travis Green said Friday morning that it’s doubtful Brock Boeser plays in that night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers. Boeser has been on the shelf with an undisclosed injury since October 2. He was expected to only miss one week, but that timeline has passed and his status is now day-to-day. In his absence, it appears rookie Vasily Podkolzin will now get a look on the second line with Pettersson and J.T. Miller.
Some other injury notes from around the league:
- New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff notes that defenseman Damon Severson is progressing and could play in New Jersey’s game next Tuesday against the Seattle Kraken. The Devils play their season opener tonight, meaning Severson might only be on the shelf for one game. Severson suffered an undisclosed injury on October 4 and has been listed as day-to-day since then.
- The Montreal Canadiens could see a big free-agent addition make his debut soon. Head coach Dominique Ducharme says that winger Mike Hoffman could be ready for the team’s Tuesday or Thursday night games next week, but he’ll miss Saturday’s tilt against the New York Rangers. That’s about right on time for Hoffman, who was projected to miss four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered in late September.
- With the St. Louis Blues’ season opener looming Saturday in Colorado, they could be without forward David Perron, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas. Perron was absent from the Blues’ practice today but was seen at the facility wearing street clothes. Head coach Craig Berube called it a “maintenance day” for Perron, who’s questionable for the game with an undisclosed injury.
Rangers Looking For Top-Six Potential In Return For Kravtsov
- Vitali Kravtsov and his representatives were given permission to seek a trade after he was sent to the AHL again, but it’s not like the New York Rangers are just going to give him away for free. Darren Dreger of TSN reports that while Kravtsov is willing to play in the AHL for another organization, the Rangers are expecting “the potential of a top-six talent” in return for the young forward. Now 21, Kravtsov was the ninth overall pick in 2018 and has four points in 20 career NHL games.
- The Dallas Stars have placed Blake Comeau on injured reserve retroactive to October 7, according to Matthew DeFranks of The Dallas Morning News. The 35-year-old scored just four goals and 14 points in 51 games last season but was still likely to have a spot on the Stars opening night roster if healthy, as a bottom-six defensive option. The team will have to fill that spot and the one belonging to Jason Robertson, who also isn’t currently traveling with the team as they visit the New York Rangers tomorrow night. Both Comeau and Robertson could join the group later on the road trip according to DeFranks. The Stars aren’t set to play their first home game until October 22, the fifth game of the season.
Vitali Kravtsov Given Permission To Seek Trade
One of the surprises among yesterday’s opening day roster submissions was in New York, where the Rangers decided to send Vitali Kravtsov back to the minor leagues. Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that the team has given Kravtsov’s camp permission to seek a trade. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that Kravtsov has refused the assignment to the AHL and will likely be suspended by the team.
The 21-year-old Kravtsov was the ninth overall pick just three years ago, but has had an up-and-down relationship with the Rangers ever since. After playing a handful of games with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL at the start of the 2019-20 season, Kravtsov exercised his European Assignment Clause to return to the KHL. He’d been benched and even made a healthy scratch in the minor leagues, so he returned home to continue his development with a team he expected to play a lot for. That didn’t work out as planned, however, and Kravtsov was back in North America, playing for the Wolf Pack before the season was through.
Last season, with the KHL starting earlier than the professional leagues in North America, Kravtsov once again suited up for Traktor and showed he had reached a new level of consistency. The Rangers left him there through the end of the KHL campaign, and then added him to the NHL roster where he played in his first 20 games. He had just two goals and four points in those contests, but things seemed to be back on the right track.
Notably, Kravtsov changed agents a few months ago and is now represented by Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. In the final year of his entry-level contract, he’ll be a restricted free agent next summer. After seeing Julien Gauthier and Dryden Hunt make the roster over him, it’s clear that Kravtsov’s time in New York may be coming to an end.
Rangers Name Six Alternate Captains
- While the Rangers were expected to name a captain before the season started, that is not the case. Instead, the team revealed (Twitter link) that they have named six alternates – defenseman Jacob Trouba plus forwards Barclay Goodrow, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, and Mika Zibanejad.
Alexandar Georgiev Denies That He Requested A Trade
With Igor Shesterkin quickly establishing himself as the number one goalie for the Rangers, there had been speculation that Alexandar Georgiev had requested a trade. Speaking with reporters, including Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the netminder put that idea to rest:
The rumors were false, I don’t know where that came from. You can be dealt pretty much as a player without a no-move clause, so I just worked as usual and tried not to think about it.
While he may not have asked for a move, the fact he was in trade speculation was certainly understandable. The four-year, $22.667MM contract given to Shesterkin this offseason cements him in that starting role moving forward, pushing Georgiev’s future with the team in question. Georgiev himself indicated that last season was “tough” and “no fun” where he was in the number two role, making just 18 starts while posting a 2.71 GAA along with a .905 SV%.
The 25-year-old is in the final season of his two-year bridge deal, one that carries a cap hit of $2.425MM while he will be owed a qualifying offer of $2.65MM next summer. Both of those numbers are certainly reasonable for a second-string backup but if Georgiev has eyes on a bigger role, that opportunity will have to come elsewhere barring a long-term injury to Shesterkin.
Young goalies with some upside – Georgiev has a career .912 SV% in 96 games – don’t typically come available too often and there are certainly some rebuilding teams that have openings to give him a bigger role. As a result, while Georgiev may not have asked out, he’s still quite likely to be in trade speculation for the foreseeable future.