- The Rangers aren’t expected to find a late trade partner for defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, tweets Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports. The blueliner hasn’t played since clearing waivers and being dismissed from the team in early February. With another year left on his deal with a $4.8MM AAV (and a $5.3MM salary), he’s pretty much a lock to be bought out this summer.
Rangers Rumors
Brendan Lemieux Had Requested A Trade
- The acquisition of Brendan Lemieux by the Kings over the weekend came as a bit of a surprise but Larry Brooks of the New York Post reports that the 25-year-old had asked for a trade from the Rangers which accelerated the process. Lemieux was believed to be seeking a larger role after averaging just over 10 minutes per game with New York prior to the move. While he’s still in quarantine, Lemieux should be able to get that with Los Angeles, especially if they wind up moving a forward or two out between now and the trade deadline.
Trade Deadline Primer: New York Rangers
We are now less than two weeks away from the NHL Trade Deadline and talks are heating up. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the New York Rangers.
The New York Rangers are a rebuilding team with a large assortment of promising, young pieces to build around. The team has been competitive this season, but is still a few pieces away from rounding out into a contender.
This is the description of a seller. The problem this poses to the Rangers: who are they supposed to sell? The roster is completely devoid of valuable impending free agents. Not one of New York’s UFA’s-to-be is at the top or even the middle of any buyer’s wish list. In a cap-strapped, expansion-affected, in-season trade market, the Rangers are also not going to make any major moves right now to shake up their roster or look to add those missing core pieces. The Rangers should be sellers; they simply have nothing to sell at this moment.
Record
16-15-4, .514, 6th in East Division
Deadline Status
Stand Pat (By Default)
Deadline Cap Space
$4.01MM in full-season space ($17.87MM at the deadline), 0/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2021: NYR 1st, BUF 3rd, NYR 3rd, OTT 4th, LAK 4th, NYR 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th, NYR 7th
2022: NYR 1st, NYR 2nd, NYR 3rd, NYR 4th, NYR 5th, NYR 6th, NYR 7th
Trade Chips
A warning for the following: the word “chips” should be taken with a grain of salt – and nothing is worse than chips without enough salt. The Rangers’ trade chips are either under-seasoned or old and stale. New York could deal the whole bag for the trade capital equivalent of 99 cents. There is nothing to see here.
The most recognizable rentals on the New York roster are veteran defensemen Jack Johnson and Brandon Smith, two of the most maligned defenders in the NHL in recent years. Johnson has already cleared waivers without any takers, while Smith’s $4.35MM contract means he is unlikely to move.
Phil Di Giuseppe is the Ranger’s lone impending free agent forward on the NHL roster and their best available rental. The 27-year-old winger has eight points in 25 games, which isn’t anything special, but puts him on a 26-point full-season pace – a good value at just $700K. Di Giuseppe may not be a household name, but he has nearly 200 NHL games to his credit as well. Contenders could do worse for a cheap depth rental.
As for players with some term on their contracts, the Rangers could listen on forwards Colin Blackwell and Kevin Rooney, defenseman Anthony Bitetto, or veteran goaltender Keith Kinkaid. However, they have to be wary of the Expansion Draft exposure requirements and the repercussions that moving any of these players would have. Especially at forward, where the team already dealt away Brendan Lemieux, moving another term forward is a shaky proposition.
Of course, the big name on the block in New York is defenseman Anthony DeAngelo. With more than enough talent to command a nice trade return on ability alone, the fact is that if a DeAngelo trade was going to happen, it likely would have already. Some teams are wary of his character concerns, while others are not comfortable with adding his $4.8MM cap hit to their 2021-22 payroll. Either way, DeAngelo seems likely to stay put in New York through the season until he can be used as Expansion Draft fodder and then bought out. DeAngelo is too good not to play in the NHL again, but it won’t be this year.
Others to Watch For: F Jonny Brodzinski ($700K, UFA), F Anthony Greco ($737.5K, 2022 UFA), F Patrick Newell ($792.5K, RFA), D Darren Raddysh ($700K, Group 6 UFA), D Mason Geertsen ($725K, 2022 UFA)
Team Needs
1) Draft Picks and Prospects – Read: Mid-to-late-round draft picks and C- or D-level prospects. Sorry, Rangers fans. This is not going to be an exciting deadline. This is the best you can hope for. Hold tight until the off-season and wait for GM Jeff Gorton to try to swing a blockbuster for a top-six center.
New York Rangers Sign Hunter Skinner
After impressing so far in his first taste of professional hockey, Hunter Skinner has earned himself an entry-level contract with the New York Rangers. The deal will begin in the 2021-22 season, with Skinner signing an AHL contract for the remainder of 2020-21.
The 19-year-old defenseman has played in 26 games with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL this season as he waited for the OHL to return to play, but hasn’t looked like he needs any more junior seasoning. In those 26 appearances, Skinner has seven goals and 17 points, holding his own against players sometimes more than a decade his senior. He currently ranks third among all ECHL defensemen in goals.
Not bad for a fourth-round pick in 2019, who needed just one year with the London Knights of the OHL to really take his game to a new level. The 6’2″ defenseman was also part of this year’s Team USA at the World Juniors, winning gold (though he played just one game).
There is certainly work to be done, but Skinner took another strong step in his development this season and should be a full-time member of the Hartford Wolf Pack in 2020-21.
Los Angeles Kings Acquire Brendan Lemieux
In a trade that few likely saw coming, the Los Angeles Kings have established themselves as buyers at this trade deadline with the acquisition of New York Rangers forward Brendan Lemieux. The Rangers announced that they have dealt the 25-year-old grinder to L.A. in exchange for a 2021 fourth-round draft pick. Lemieux’s contact carries a $1.55MM AAV and expires after the 2021-22 season, at which time he will be a restricted free agent.
From the Rangers’ perspective, maybe this trade should not have been a surprise. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman notes, New York is dealing with a difficult roster crunch right now and he believes that they have been looking to swap a contract for a draft pick for some time. Lemieux has also seemingly hit a wall in his offensive development as well, appearing to be no more than a 25-point player at best, and as such has been relegated to a fourth-line role with the Rangers where his physicality and energy can be best implemented. Lemieux serves the role well, but he is more valuable to a contender than to a team like the Rangers that needs to focus on evaluating their young talent and putting together a playoff-caliber core. With that said, New York is not the most aggressive team and will need to look elsewhere for that spark with Lemieux now gone.
The more intriguing aspect of this deal is the team on the other side. The Kings have been one of the NHL’s positive surprises thus far, still very much in the conversation for a playoff spot in the West Division albeit more so before their current cold streak. It’s not so much L.A.’s impressive pipeline turning the team around either as it is their veterans leading the charge. Bringing in a relatively older player who is seemingly locked into a fourth-line role, especially one with term remaining on his contract, would have been a very strange move for the rebuilding Kings prior to this season, but given their recent success it could help them both get into the postseason and handle the increased pace and physicality of playoff hockey. Lemieux also adds the aggression element that L.A. too often lacks; the team averages about 18 hits per game (7th-worst in the NHL) and has just six fighting majors on the year (tied for 9th-fewest).
One repercussion of this move that may not immediately jump to mind but could become important down the road is the Expansion Draft impact. For the Kings, Lemieux is an additional term forward that the team will need to decide whether or not to protect, although his addition does guarantee that they should meet exposure requirements at forward one way or another. The Rangers are not in as lucky a situation following Lemieux’s departure. Although New York needed to move a player to create roster space, moving a regular starter signed beyond this season could put them in a difficult spot. As of right now, the team only has two players who meet the requirements for the two-forward exposure quota – Ryan Strome and Kevin Rooney – and Strome is likely to be protected. The only other player who can meet the requirements this season is Colin Blackwell, who needs to play in five more games. If Blackwell does not reach the games played requirement due to injury or trade or if the Rangers instead choose to protect the current top-six scoring forward, they will be one body short of the quota – a spot that Lemieux was expected to fill – and will have to make an addition before the draft.
Snapshots: Canadiens, Pitlick, Juulsen, Barron
The Montreal Canadiens are sitting fourth in the North Division as they deal with a COVID shutdown through Sunday, but have played fewer games than all of their division foes. One might think that would push GM Marc Bergevin to add to his squad and try to climb even higher in the standings, but the Montreal executive once again downplayed the idea at media availability today.
As Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets, Bergevin was asked multiple times about his trade deadline plans and repeatedly explained that no one should expect much from the Canadiens because of difficult cap restraints. Of course, no matter how many times he says it, Bergevin isn’t convincing some of his peers. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet wrote earlier this week that some other managers around the league believe the Canadiens made a push for Mattias Ekholm. Bergevin’s availability was before the report came out about Canada potentially reducing the quarantine for NHL players to seven days, though it is unclear if that would have any effect on Montreal’s deadline plans.
- If you thought Tyler Pitlick could make for a good depth addition at the deadline, perhaps not. The Arizona Coyotes forward is out “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury. The 29-year-old Pitlick has 11 points in 33 games this season for the Coyotes and is signed through next season at a $1.75MM cap hit. He had been seeing more and more ice time recently, including a whopping 24:08 earlier this month in an overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
- The New York Rangers have several wingers at the NHL level that were selected at the very top of the draft, but perhaps it is one that went 174th overall that fans should be excited about. Morgan Barron scored another two goals today for the Hartford Wolf Pack and now has seven in his first 11 professional games. The sixth-round pick was a star at Cornell University, becoming a Hobey Baker finalist and scoring 32 points in 29 games during the 2019-20 campaign. Standing 6’4″ with enviable skill, he’s turning heads at the minor league level already.
- The Florida Panthers have assigned Noah Juulsen to the AHL on a conditioning loan as he works his way back from injured reserve. Juulsen hasn’t played since February 25 and has just four appearances on the season. The 23-year-old has been injured basically his entire professional career, never playing more than 54 games in a season at all levels combined. The Panthers have also recalled Eetu Luostarinen from the taxi squad, sending Brett Connolly back to it in his place.
St. Louis Blues Legend Bob Plager Passes Away At 78
Longtime St. Louis Blues defenseman Bob Plager passed away on Wednesday at the age of 78 due to injuries sustained in a car accident. Plager played 14 seasons in the NHL, from 1964 to 1978, including 11 years with the Blues after beginning his career with the New York Rangers. Though undersized for a defenseman at that time, especially one that focused primarily on the defensive aspects of the game, Plager was no pushover. His reputation on the ice was built on his physicality and smart defensive play, which made him a difficult match-up. Plager channeled his passionate and intelligent playing ability into a career beyond his playing days, serving as a scout, coach, and top executive. Plager’s reputation off the ice was one of kindness and humor.
Plager will always be remembered more for his connection to the Blues and to the city of St. Louis than for any one thing he did on or off the ice with the team. A member of the inaugural St. Louis Blues of 1967, Plager was the longest-serving member of that original roster. When he retired from playing, he jumped immediately into serving the club in other ways. Quite literally, too; Plager went from playing with the Blues and their CHL affiliate, the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, to coaching the Golden Eagles all over the course of one season. He then spent the next six years as a scout for St. Louis, three years as Assistant General Manager, and five years as Director of Player Development. He also had stints as head coach of the Blues and their IHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, mixed in as well. Plager retired from hockey in 2000, having spent a combined 33 years in the service of the Blues. However, he very much remained involved with the team as an iconic alumnus.
The response to Plager’s passing has come from all corners of the hockey world. Tom Timmerman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch collected comments from names such as former Blues coach Scotty Bowman, Blues owner Tom Stillman, a fellow Blues honoree in Bernie Federko, and current Blues GM Doug Armstrong in a detailed story on the life of a legend. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also released a statement on Plager’s passing. Even Ben Bishop, goaltender for the rival Dallas Stars but also a St. Louis native, shared his memories of a man that meant so much to he and others who grew up in the city.
All of us at PHR send our condolences to the family and friends of Bob Plager and the hockey community of St. Louis.
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 03/21/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. Here is the complete, updated list for today:
Boston – Sean Kuraly, Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Craig Smith
NY Islanders – Noah Dobson
NY Rangers – Phil Di Giuseppe (plus their coaching staff)
St. Louis – Zach Sanford
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: Alexandre Texier, Columbus
It’s certainly encouraging that there were no new additions to the list from Boston given their recent outbreak or from anywhere else in the league. Things went in the right direction today with Texier being activated and immediately sent to the taxi squad, a move that may be more procedural than anything else since the youngster only missed two games while being in the protocols.
*denotes new addition
COVID Protocol Related Absences: 03/20/21
Each day, the NHL will publicly release the list of players that are unavailable to their respective teams due to being in COVID-19 Protocol. Here is the complete, updated list for today:
Boston – Sean Kuraly, Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci, David Pastrnak, Craig Smith
Columbus – Alexandre Texier
NY Islanders – Noah Dobson
NY Rangers – Phil Di Giuseppe (plus coaching staff)
St. Louis – Zach Sanford*
As a reminder, inclusion on this list does not mean that a player has tested positive for Coronavirus or even that they have been confirmed as a close contact to another positive person. Included in the NHL’s list of possible reasons for someone being on the list is are the following:
(1) an initial positive test which remains unconfirmed until confirmatory testing is completed pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (2) mandated isolation for symptomatic individuals pursuant to the Positive Test Protocol; (3) required quarantine as a high-risk close contact in accordance with the Positive Test Protocol; (4) isolation based on a confirmed positive test result and/or; (5) quarantine for travel or other reasons as outlined in the COVID-19 Protocol
Players removed today: None
The outbreak in Boston remains a concern, but no additional Bruins and no Buffalo Sabres being added to the list today is encouraging. The hopes is that Boston, who will remain quarantined until Wednesday, will then be able to move forward and the NHL can get back to trending toward an empty CPRA list.
They did move in the wrong direction today, though. Sanford’s addition in St. Louis adds a ninth player and fifth team to the list. However, if this is another case of a false positive then Sanford’s stay could be short. In the meantime, Sanford will miss the Blues’ Saturday night match-up.
*denotes new addition
A Case To Trade Pavel Buchnevich
- Rangers winger Pavel Buchnevich is in the midst of a career year but Newsday’s Colin Stephenson posits that the 25-year-old should be a trade candidate as a result. The pending restricted free agent has 26 points in 28 games but with several young wingers on the roster already – plus Vitali Kravtsov soon arriving – he suggests that they may need the money that would otherwise be earmarked for him to fill their long-standing vacancy down the middle with an asset or two from a Buchnevich deal helping to facilitate that move. Buchnevich will be eligible for salary arbitration this offseason and will be looking for a fair bit more than his $3MM qualifying offer.