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Anton Blidh

Rangers Sign Anton Blidh To Two-Year Extension

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The Rangers announced today they’ve agreed to terms with depth winger Anton Blidh on a two-year, two-way extension. PuckPedia reported yesterday the deal carries a league-minimum $775K NHL salary and cap hit with a $350K AHL salary and a $385K guarantee each season.

Blidh’s extension is identical to the two-year, two-way deal he signed to join the Blueshirts as an unrestricted free agent in 2023. The 30-year-old Swede was a sixth-round pick of the Bruins back in 2013 and is now in his 10th professional season in North America. He’s seen AHL action in nine of them, spending all of this year on assignment to AHL Hartford, aside from a brief emergency recall last month that didn’t result in any playing time.

A high-energy, defensively responsible winger, Blidh has 85 NHL games to his name. Seventy of those came with the Bruins, where he played a limited call-up role and appeared in six straight campaigns from 2016-17 to 2021-22. He has 4-8–12 with a -14 rating over his career, which also includes a brief stop with the Avalanche in 2022-23.

He’s never been a big point producer in the minors either, but Blidh has done well as a secondary scorer in Hartford this year while logging heavy shorthanded usage. He’s put together a career-high 17-13–30 scoring line in 66 games, sitting third on the club in scoring alongside 80 PIMs and a plus-one rating.

Blidh was set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer but will now wait until 2027 to test the open market again. He’s a likely candidate to pass through waivers next fall and return to Hartford.

Rangers Reassign Anton Blidh

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March 21: The Rangers’ PR department announced they’ve assigned Blidh back to Hartford today. Since his services weren’t required in last night’s game, he has to be returned to the minors on off days to qualify as an emergency recall.

March 20: As expected, the New York Rangers have recalled depth forward Anton Blidh from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. Multiple reports this morning indicated the Rangers could have multiple players out tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but forward Matt Rempe is the only one as he’s out with an illness.

Blidh wasn’t included in tonight’s lineup and likely won’t be during the call-up. The Molnlycke, Sweden native is in his third season with the Rangers organization but has only suited up in one contest since being acquired from the Colorado Avalance in 2023.

Still, he’s been productive in the AHL with Hartford. The career bottom-six talent has scored 31 goals and 56 points in 131 games with the Wolf Pack, making for the best stretch of his career since playing for the AHL’s Providence Bruins in the late 2010s. He’s already earned a career-high 28 points this season with 11 games remaining in Hartford’s schedule.

Meanwhile, Rempe is absent from New York’s lineup for the first time in 29 games. The young enforcer has scored two goals and five points, delivering 87 hits, and earning 30 penalty minutes. Rempe’s 29 consecutive games are relatively impressive given he’s had considerable issues with suspensions and injuries through the first two years of his NHL career.

Rangers Make Nine Roster Moves

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After submitting a cap-compliant roster for Monday’s opening-night deadline, the Rangers have shuffled their group to get to their actual game roster for tonight’s season opener against the Penguins. As expected, William Cuylle, Adam Edstrom, Victor Mancini, and Matt Rempe were recalled from AHL Hartford yesterday, making the team in effect, reports Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. Five players – forwards Anton Blidh, Jake Leschyshyn, and Adam Sýkora, as well as defensemen Ben Harpur and Matthew Robertson, were sent down to create roster and cap space.

The Rangers opened up a roster spot with the moves, but that’s not why they made them. Having the extra salary on the technical opening night roster allowed them to maximize their capture when placing winger Jimmy Vesey and his $800K cap hit on long-term injured reserve. They now have $792K in their season-opening LTIR pool, per PuckPedia. After yesterday’s moves, they’re sitting with north of $600K in cap space.

All four of yesterday’s recalls are expected to slide into the lineup against Pittsburgh tonight. Veteran Jonny Brodzinski appears to be on the outside looking in as the 13th forward to start the year, while Mancini will slide in for Ryan Lindgren, who’s on IR with an upper-body injury. It’ll be his NHL debut.

It’s an impressive feat for Mancini, who appears to have usurped veteran No. 7 option Chad Ruhwedel in the pecking order, at least for now. He’s also pushed himself up on the Blueshirts’ depth chart past other veteran defensive depth options with NHL experience like the aforementioned Harpur. The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick just two years ago out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where the 6’4″, 220-lb stay-at-home defender had four goals and 23 points in 110 games with a +4 rating. He’s entering his first full season of pro hockey but did close out last year with six assists in 17 combined regular-season and playoff games for Hartford.

Edstrom, listed at 6’6″, and Rempe, listed at 6’9″, are back to reprise their roles on one of the tallest combined forward lines in league history. They got spot duty together last season when they were both on the roster, getting seven games of action flanking Barclay Goodrow. The line has lost a couple of inches with the 6’2″ Goodrow now replaced by a 6’0″ Sam Carrick, but an opening night look is still promising for the younger duo of Edstrom and Rempe.

Edstrom, 24 on Saturday, had two goals in his first 11 NHL appearances last year. Rempe, meanwhile, scored a goal and an assist in 17 games. Only the 22-year-old Rempe saw playoff action, though, drawing into 11 of New York’s 16 postseason games en route to the Eastern Conference Final.

Cuylle was always a near-lock to make the team, only being sent down briefly for cap purposes, as mentioned earlier. The 22-year-old left winger had a promising rookie season in 2023-24, scoring 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points in 81 games while averaging 11:08 per game. He played a frequent third-line role at even strength but received little to no special teams usage. The 6’3″, 212-lb former second-rounder also finished fourth on the team in PIMs (56), tied for sixth in even-strength goals (12), and led them in hits (249).

Waiver Wire: 10/1/24

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28 players hit the waiver wire Tuesday, per PuckPedia. It’s a sharp increase from yesterday’s 12 names as more veterans are assigned to the minors later in camp. All of yesterday’s waived players cleared, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Today’s waiver placements are as follows:

Anaheim Ducks

F Carson Meyer

Buffalo Sabres

F Joshua Dunne
F Mason Jobst
F Brett Murray
D Colton Poolman
D Jack Rathbone
G Felix Sandström

Calgary Flames

D Ilya Solovyov

Edmonton Oilers

G Collin Delia
D Ben Gleason
D Philip Kemp
F Lane Pederson

Los Angeles Kings

D Jacob Moverare

Minnesota Wild

F Reese Johnson

New York Rangers

F Anton Blidh
G Louis Domingue
D Casey Fitzgerald
D Brandon Scanlin

Seattle Kraken

F Brandon Biro
F Max McCormick
F Ben Meyers
D Gustav Olofsson
F Mitchell Stephens
G Ales Stezka

Vancouver Canucks

F Phillip Di Giuseppe
G Jiří Patera
F Nathan Smith
D Christian Wolanin

Rangers Recall 13 Players

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With the Rangers seeing their AHL team eliminated in the Atlantic Division Finals earlier this week, they were free to recall some players to the big club to serve as their ‘Black Aces’ squad.  After taking a few days, they’ve made their choices on who to bring up.  AHL Hartford announced that the Rangers have promoted goaltender Dylan Garand, defensemen Ben Harpur, Connor Mackey, Victor Mancini, Matthew Robertson, and Brandon Scanlin, and forwards Alex Belzile, Brett Berard, Anton Blidh, Jake Leschyshyn, Brennan Othmann, Tyler Pitlick, and Adam Sykora from the Wolf Pack.

Garand was briefly up with the Rangers earlier in the playoffs when third-stringer Louis Domingue was unavailable but didn’t see any game action.  The 21-year-old didn’t have a particularly strong regular season with a 3.03 GAA and a .898 SV% in 39 regular season games but was quite sharp in the playoffs, improving those numbers to 2.59 and .922 respectively in nine appearances.

Among the blueliners, only Mackey and Scanlin saw action with the Rangers during the regular season, getting into one game apiece; one of them would likely be the first from this group to get the call to play if necessary.  Harpur has the most experience with 198 career appearances (including 42 with New York in 2022-23) but missed most of the season due to injury which likely takes him off the table.  Mancini, meanwhile, is eligible to practice but not play as his entry-level contract doesn’t officially begin until next season.

As for the forwards, all but Belzile, Berard, and Sykora got into at least one NHL contest in 2023-24.  Pitlick led the way on that front with 34 appearances but was limited to just a goal and three assists while averaging a little over 10 minutes a night.  That said, he’d be the safest player to put in the lineup if necessary given his familiarity.  Othmann is one of their top prospects and had a strong year in Hartford with 49 points in 67 games.  While it would be riskier to put him in, his style of play fits in with the physicality of the postseason while Othmann could provide some potential offensive upside if Peter Laviolette has to shake things up.

Snapshots: Kulikov, Hagg, Blidh

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Continuing with their five-game homestand this week, the Florida Panthers may be without defenseman Dmitry Kulikov tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks (X Link). It is unclear what exactly is plaguing Kulikov, but he only managed a tad under 14 minutes of ice time in the team’s most recent loss to the New Jersey Devils.

If Kulikov is unable to play on Monday, it likely means that Josh Mahura will join the bottom-pairing on defense, after serving as a healthy scratch since December 16th. Although there is an argument to be made that Mahura is ultimately the more well-rounded defenseman comparatively, Kulikov’s recent work on the penalty kill has given the Panthers little choice but to put him in the lineup.

Already operating as the fifth-best penalty kill in the league, Florida’s penalty kill has allowed only four goals in the last 17 games, as they’ve been operating at over 90% efficiency for over a month. The penalty kill unit as a whole is bigger than just one defenseman, but Kulikov’s ability to shut down the other team’s top power-play units has been a tremendous boon to the Panther’s defensive core this season.

Other snapshots:

  • Per the AHL transactions page, the Ducks have returned defenseman Robert Hagg to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Hagg was originally recalled on an emergency basis on January 9th, in correspondence with Anaheim’s trade of Jamie Drysdale to the Philadelphia Flyers only a day prior. Fortunately for Hagg, he was ultimately able to make his Ducks’ debut, playing in two games overall, with no points to show for.
  • The New York Rangers have assigned forward Anton Blidh to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, per a team announcement. It was a brief stay with the Rangers for Blidh, who was originally recalled on an emergency basis to suit up in last night’s game against the Washington Capitals. In only a little over five minutes of ice time, Blidh had very little effect on the outcome of the game, and will now return to a Hartford team where he has nine points in 29 games on the season.

Rangers Recall Anton Blidh

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The Rangers recalled winger Anton Blidh from AHL Hartford today, per a team release. His recall guarantees the Rangers will have 12 healthy forwards for tomorrow’s tilt against the Capitals.

This is the second time the Rangers have had to dip into their minor-league forward depth this week. They recalled Jake Leschyshyn, who made his season debut in yesterday’s loss to the Blues, in order to allow 2021 first-round pick Brennan Othmann to return to the minors after making his NHL debut earlier this month.

Now, with the status of top-line center Mika Zibanejad uncertain for tomorrow due to illness, Blidh could make his 2023-24 debut in a fourth-line role. Zibanejad was a late scratch against the Blues, forcing the Rangers to dress Zachary Jones as a seventh defenseman – obviously not a lineup configuration that bench boss Peter Laviolette prefers.

Blidh, 28, is a grinder who’s appeared in NHL games in every season dating back to 2016-17, although exclusively in limited roles. The Rangers acquired him at last season’s trade deadline in a minor-league swap with the Avalanche, later signing him to a two-year, two-way extension before free agency opened. Through 29 games with Hartford, Blidh has four goals and five points for nine assists and a +8 rating. In 14 NHL games with Colorado last season, he went pointless in 14 contests and averaged just 6:35 per game.

New York Rangers Recall Anton Blidh

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The New York Rangers have recalled forward Anton Blidh from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. The move adds a spare forward to the Rangers’ roster, something the team was missing for yesterday’s game against the Nashville Predators.

Blidh is unlikely to play, though he’ll serve as some insurance if any Rangers forward is unable to play tonight against the San Jose Sharks. Blidh, 28, is a physical depth forward who has played in 84 career NHL games. He has 12 career points and 41 career penalty minutes.

The Rangers have kept Blidh in Hartford this season, where he has four goals and seven points in 17 games. He last played in the NHL with the Colorado Avalanche last season, skating in 14 games for the club.

It’s somewhat curious that the Rangers elected to recall Blidh over veteran Alex Belzile, seeing as Belzile has been notably more successful at both the AHL and NHL levels than Blidh has been. Bezile has 21 points in 20 AHL games this season and scored 14 points in just 31 NHL games in 2022-23, a total that surpassed Blidh’s career scoring total despite Belzile playing fourth-line minutes on one of the NHL’s worst teams.

That being said, Blidh does have a longer history with the Rangers (he played for Hartford in 2022-23 as well) so that could have been a factor in deciding which forward would get this recall from the AHL.

Waivers: 9/29/23

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As training camps and the preseason continues, teams continue to trim down their roster to get closer to the final group of players they’ll carry when the regular season gets underway next month. We’ll keep track of the names that hit the waiver wire here.  Today’s list was provided by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link).

Colorado Avalanche (per team Twitter)

D Keaton Middleton
F Spencer Smallman

New York Rangers

F Alex Belzile
F Anton Blidh
F Turner Elson
D Ty Emberson
D Connor Mackey
F Riley Nash

New Jersey Devils

D Tyler Wotherspoon

St. Louis Blues

F Adam Gaudette

The Rangers have the players of some note on this list.  Belzile held his own as a midseason recall with Montreal last season, notching six goals and eight assists in just 31 games.  That allowed the 32-year-old to get a two-year commitment from New York this summer including a one-way salary in 2024-25.  Nash didn’t see any NHL action last season but is no stranger to playing at the top level as a fourth-line center, suiting up 627 times over parts of 11 years.  Blidh struggled in limited action with Colorado last season while Elson has just three NHL appearances thus far in his career.

Mackey could be a name to keep an eye on.  The 27-year-old split last year between Calgary and Arizona, getting into a career-best 30 games.  His performance there also earned him an opportunity to play at the Worlds for Team USA, his second appearance in that tournament over the last three years.  This will be Emberson’s first time on waivers.  The 23-year-old saw his production in the minors improve considerably last season, going from 11 points to 27 but he still sits fairly low on New York’s depth chart.

As for the other players on waivers today, Gaudette has 218 career NHL appearances under his belt and last season was the first time he didn’t see action at the top level in his six-year professional career.  He was a productive scorer in the minors in 2022-23, notching 51 points between the affiliates of the Maple Leafs and Blues, who acquired him at the trade deadline.  Wotherspoon last played in the NHL back in 2016-17 with Calgary while Middleton has three NHL games under his belt back in the 2020-21 campaign.  Smallman, meanwhile, hasn’t seen any NHL action over his seven professional campaigns and is coming off a career-best 13 goals with AHL Colorado last season.

These players will be on waivers until 1 PM CT on Saturday.

New York Rangers Re-Sign Anton Blidh

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June 8: The Rangers have officially announced the contract, confirming its two-year term.

June 7: The New York Rangers have re-signed forward Anton Blidh to a two-year/two-way contract extension. The signing continues a trend for the 28-year-old Blidh as he has played under the parameters of a two-way contract for the past eight seasons. CapFriendly is reporting that Blidh will have an NHL cap hit of $775K in each of the two seasons or a minor’s salary of $350K. Should he spend the entire season in the AHL he does have a minimum guarantee of $385K in each year.

The move is a little bit curious as the Swedish winger came over in a trade deadline deal with the Colorado Avalanche but never dressed for the Rangers at the NHL level. It appears that general manager Chris Drury views Blidh as organization depth. He is a very useful defensive player who can kill penalties and chip in occasionally as he did this past season putting up 13 goals and 10 assists in 53 AHL games split between the Hartford Wolfpack and Colorado Eagles. While he struggled early in the season in Colorado, he seemed to find a home in Hartford as he finished his season putting up seven goals and four assists in his final 17 games.

Given Blidh’s career trajectory and his inability to stay at the NHL level it does appear that he’s destined to be a good AHL player and occasional NHL call-up. In 84 NHL games scattered across seven NHL seasons he has four goals and eight assists to go along with 41 PIM.

The signing is a nice story for Blidh who less than a month ago had a scary incident in a playoff game against the Hershey Bears. In the first period of Game One of the Atlantic Division Final, Blidh collapsed on the Hartford bench and the game had to be stopped to provide him with medical attention. In the end it turned out that Blidh had the wind knocked out of him and thankfully he was okay. Fortunately, he was able to keep playing and now he will be able to continue playing for at least the next two years.

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