- 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.
Rangers Rumors
Jack Johnson Undergoes Hernia Surgery
The season has come to an end for Rangers defenseman Jack Johnson as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that the blueliner underwent hernia surgery on Friday. He’s expected to be fully recovered by June or July which technically would leave a small window open for him to be available if New York was to make it deep into the postseason, something that doesn’t seem likely at this point.
The 34-year-old signed with the Rangers in October, inking a one-year, $1.15MM contract after being bought out by Pittsburgh. He had a limited role with New York, suiting up in just 13 games this season although he did miss eight games due to a groin injury earlier in the year. His season will end with just one goal to his name while he averaged a career-low 16:58 per game.
Johnson cleared waivers back on Monday which makes the timing of this a little noteworthy. Had Johnson had the surgery while on the NHL roster, his full salary would have counted against New York’s Upper Limit. However, with the taxi squad being treated as if it was an assignment to the AHL, only $75K remains on the books, giving them a bit more salary cap flexibility to work with as they try to navigate a potential significant bonus cushion overage with so many players on entry-level contracts on their active roster.
Considering the limited role that Johnson had for them this season, it seems unlikely that Johnson will be brought back for next season. Instead, he’ll once again enter free agency where he may be hard-pressed to land a similar-priced contract given this surgery and struggles when he was in New York’s lineup.
Tarmo Reunanen Recalled By New York Rangers
The New York Rangers will play as scheduled tonight, but due to their placement in the COVID protocol, they won’t have the services of Phillip Di Giuseppe, Pavel Buchnevich, or, most importantly, Adam Fox. The team has recalled Tarmo Reunanen from the Hartford Wolf Pack to make his NHL debut in place of Fox, while Julien Gauthier and Brett Howden will get back into the lineup for the other two.
Losing Fox is a huge blow, given he leads the team in average ice time by nearly three minutes. The 22-year-old defenseman has 15 points in 26 games as he continues the stellar play that landed him fourth in Calder Trophy voting last season. There aren’t many players in the entire NHL that carry as much responsibility as Fox does for the Rangers, who play him heavily on both special teams and are even starting him in the defensive zone more often this season. It’s not clear if he has tested positive for coronavirus, but if his absence is a lengthy one, it could spell trouble for a team that is already sitting just under .500.
In Reunanen though, there is a good bit of intrigue. The 23-year-old defenseman was a fourth-round pick of the team in 2016 but didn’t come to North America until this season. He has performed quite well over the last two seasons in Finland and has five points in his first eight games for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL. At some point, the team was going to need to give him a chance in the NHL to see what they have, though obviously losing Fox wasn’t what they had envisioned.
It will be interesting to see how much ice time they give the rookie in his debut, or how much they shelter him with easier deployment. The team is coming off a big win against the Boston Bruins and are still just seven points out of the final playoff spot in the East Division, even though they hold a record of 11-12-3. With the Jack Johnson experiment potentially over—the veteran cleared waivers earlier today—and Tony DeAngelo still removed from the team, it would be a huge development for them to find something in Reunanen.
Prospect Notes: Kravtsov, Zary, Krys
Vitaly Kravtsov’s KHL team was eliminated from the playoffs today, meaning the New York Rangers prospect can now come to North America to join his NHL club. The 21-year-old winger is already under contract and was just loaned overseas, meaning he could play as soon as his quarantine protocols are over. That’s expected to take up to two weeks, but it could still mean the Rangers have a boost down the stretch.
Kravtsov, the ninth overall pick in 2018, scored 16 goals and 24 points in 49 KHL games this season, a strong offensive showing for a player that had struggled at times in the past. The 6’3″ winger is still an important part of the Rangers’ future and gives them another young forward to build around.
- With the British Columbia teams in the WHL set to return soon, Connor Zary’s time with the Stockton Heat is finished. The 19-year-old forward has been assigned back to the Kamloops Blazers after scoring seven points in nine AHL contests. Zary was the 24th overall pick in 2020 and is too young for the AHL whenever the WHL is in session, but showed quite well in his first taste of professional hockey. The Calgary Flames prospect had 38 goals and 86 points last season for the Blazers and should be even more dominant now that he has some AHL experience under his belt.
- Chad Krys, the Chicago Blackhawks second-rounder from 2016, will end his own 2020-21 season after just six AHL appearances. The Rockford IceHogs announced today that Krys underwent successful shoulder surgery yesterday and will be out for the next five to seven months. Hopefully, that leaves him able to compete in Blackhawks training camp for next season, but Krys has a long road back at this point.
Artemi Panarin Returns To New York Rangers
Privet, Breadman. That’s how the New York Rangers announced that Artemi Panarin had returned to practice after taking a leave of absence from the team. Panarin had been dealing with the aftermath of an accusation that appeared in Russian media, which the Rangers and he both immediately denounced as untrue. It has been several weeks since he left the team, so to see him back on the ice was a welcome picture for fans of the team.
It may not be a welcoming sight for New York’s opponents though, given how important Panarin is to the team’s attack. The 29-year-old winger was a finalist for the Hart Trophy last season and had 18 points in 14 games before leaving the team. If he is back for good, the Rangers—who are not completely out of the running, but a 10-11-3 record so far isn’t great—will be a much tougher team to take on.
In the brutal East Division, even a positive goal differential hasn’t been good enough to result in much success. The Rangers sit sixth, six points behind the Philadelphia Flyers and seven points behind the Boston Bruins for a playoff spot. Panarin’s return couldn’t come at a better time, given New York will play the Bruins and Flyers for the next four games.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Rangers Activate Jacob Trouba Off IR
- The Rangers activated defenseman Jacob Trouba off injured reserve, USA Today’s Vincent Z. Mercogliano was among those to note (Twitter link). The blueliner had missed the last eight games due to a thumb injury and actually came back quicker than expected. Initially given a four-to-six-week recovery timeline, Trouba missed only three weeks of action. New York will be expecting more from him offensively though as he has just three assists (and no goals) in 14 games heading into tonight’s contest. To make room for Trouba on the roster, Artemi Panarin was designated as a non-roster player as his leave of absence continues.
Three Players Clear Waivers
March 4: All three players have cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the taxi squad or minor leagues.
March 3: The waiver wire is busy again today, with three players up for grabs. Chris Johnston of Sportsnet reports that Dominik Simon (Calgary Flames), Valtteri Filppula (Detroit Red Wings), and Mason Geertsen (New York Rangers) have all been placed on waivers today.
Geertsen’s presence on the list means that he has signed a new NHL contract with the Rangers, since he had previously been on an AHL deal with the Hartford Wolf Pack. He last had an NHL deal during the 2018-19 season but has never actually made it to the highest level. A fourth-round pick of the Colorado avalanche in 2013, he has spent several years in the minor leagues racking up penalty minutes, never afraid to drop his gloves to defend a teammate. This year he has 11 PIM and one point in four games for Hartford.
Filppula is the latest veteran Detroit has passed through waivers, following Danny DeKeyser and Frans Nielsen earlier in the year. The 36-year-old forward has registered just five points in 20 games and is nearing the end of what has actually been quite a successful career. A third-round pick by Detroit back in 2002, Filpulla has 520 points in 1,038 career games. He took home the Stanley Cup with the Red Wings in 2008 and has been an excellent playoff performer, racking up 86 points in 166 postseason games.
Waivers then might actually increase Filppula’s trade value, considering he’s on an expiring contract. If a team wanted to add some more experience for a playoff run, but didn’t have an immediate spot in the lineup, the ability to move Filppula to the taxi squad would come in handy.
Simon, 26, hasn’t been a perfect fit in Calgary this season, failing to record a point in his nine appearances. The depth forward was supposed to add a little scoring punch at the bottom of the lineup after recording 50 points over the last two seasons, but that hasn’t happened. Still, for the league minimum of $700K and Simon’s RFA rights, perhaps a team will take a swing and bring him in on waivers. If not, he’ll likely be another candidate to rotate through the taxi squad in Calgary, helping them bank cap space.
Rangers Sign Braden Schneider To Entry-Level Deal
March 4: The Rangers have officially announced the contract, signing Schneider for a entry-level deal that starts next season.
March 3: The Rangers now have both of their 2020 first-round picks under contract as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they’ve inked defenseman Braden Schneider to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal carries a base salary of $925K (including a 10% signing bonus), a minor league salary of $80K, and $400K in performance bonuses in each season.
The timing of this deal is notable. Since they weren’t able to get him signed by the end of 2020, Schneider wasn’t eligible to have his contract slide a year. As a result, by waiting until now to do the deal, they were able to sign him to a future contract that begins in 2021-22 although they won’t benefit from the slightly lower AAV that a 2020-21 contract that slid would have provided.
Schneider was the 19th overall pick back in October, joining winger Alexis Lafreniere (first overall) as New York’s top selections from the draft. While their top selection is all about the offense, Schneider is more of a throwback defensive defender although he’s coming off a decent season offensively in the WHL where he had seven goals and 35 assists in 60 games with WHL Brandon.
This season, the pandemic has certainly limited Schneider’s playing opportunities with the WHL just getting underway. He did manage to earn a spot on Canada’s entry into the World Juniors where he had a goal and two assists along with 25 penalty minutes in six games. Schneider also made his pro debut, suiting up twice with AHL Hartford before being sent back to the Wheat Kings where he will wrap up his junior career before kicking off his first professional campaign next season.
Rangers Sign Mason Geertsen
When he was placed on waivers today, it was clear that the Rangers had agreed to terms on an NHL deal with defenseman Mason Geertsen. The terms of that agreement are now known as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the blueliner has inked a two-year contract that breaks down as follows:
2020-21: $700K NHL salary, $100K AHL salary
2021-22: $750K NHL salary, $110K AHL salary
The 25-year-old was a fourth-round pick (93rd overall) of Colorado back in 2013 and spent four seasons in their minor league system, splitting time between the AHL and ECHL before being non-tendered in 2018. That led him to the Rangers where he played on a minor league contract for the past year and a half until today’s conversion to an NHL contract.
Geertsen isn’t going to be counted to provide much offense for AHL Hartford (assuming he clears waivers as expected tomorrow) as his career-high in goals in a single season at that level is just three. He’s more of a stay-at-home, physical blueliner which makes it interesting that the Rangers opted to use an NHL contract on him at this time as players like that don’t typically get NHL deals at this stage of their careers. He becomes the 45th player signed out of a maximum of 50 so GM Jeff Gorton still has some flexibility on the contract limit to work with which is notable with college free agency on the horizon.
Snapshots: Maple Leafs, Granlund, DeAngelo, Draft
The Toronto Maple Leafs are the current kings of the NHL, leading the league standings and by a decent margin. In a rare season in which the Leafs don’t have to go through the Tampa Bay Lightning and more importantly the dreaded Boston Bruins early in the playoffs, Toronto is understandably excited about their prospects and willing to load up before the deadline to give themselves their best shot at a title. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the team’s current focus is on bolstering their forward corps. He states that the goal is to add a middle-six forward prior to the trade deadline and, if possible, one that could line up at center on the third line or shift to wing and play higher in the lineup. One potential fit that continues to be linked to Toronto is Nashville Predators forward Mikael Granlund, if you can call him “middle-six”. On a struggling Predators team, Granlund has been one of the few highlights, leading all Nashville forwards in ice time, blocked shots, and Corsi For and second only to Filip Forsberg in scoring. Dreger believes that Granlund, an impending free agent, will absolutely be available as the Predators seem poised to begin a fire sale of sorts and he could be the ideal pick-up for Toronto as a luxury depth addition – a current top-line forward moving into a middle-six role. Of course, given Granlund’s strong play there will be other suitors and Toronto will certainly take a look at additional options should a Granlund deal not prove to be viable.
- Trade talks have quieted down on New York Rangers defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, as it seems that teams do not want to make the financial commitment this year and next to the polarizing defenseman despite his obvious ability. Yet, DeAngelo wants to get back on the ice. He was told that his time with the Rangers was over and, per TSN’s Frank Seravalli, that extends to the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack as well. New York has informed DeAngelo that he will not be assigned to their affiliate; however, they are willing to loan him out to another AHL team. Seravalli reports that DeAngelo and his representation are currently in the process of trying to find a spot for him to play out the rest of this season in the minors. In the big picture, the fact that it has come to this means that a trade elsewhere seems highly unlikely. Expect DeAngelo to be bought out this summer and take a short-term “show me” deal elsewhere.
- Even as the Canadian junior leagues continue to work towards a full return to play, there are concerns about the 2021 NHL Draft and the pressure on teams due to the lack of complete information on eligible prospects. While European leagues, American junior leagues, and the NCAA have all had some semblance of a full season, the same cannot be said for Canada, the largest producer of NHL talent. A number of teams have expressed support for postponing the draft until later this year or even next year and a number of option have been proposed. However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman stated on a recent radio appearance that this change is easier said than done. Due to all of the language pertaining to draft eligibility and rights, all collectively bargained, it will be difficult to postpone the draft, even if it is in the best interests of the teams and many prospects. Friedman notes that the NHLPA presented the league with a number of issues that would need to be addressed before the draft could be delayed and Friedman hears that that there simply may not be enough fight on the league side to figure out the many solutions. Dreger reports that, one way or another, answers are needed soon and there could be a meeting as early as Thursday to discuss all issues and options.