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Rangers’ David Desharnais Headed to KHL

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With the New York Rangers in rebuilding mode and the expected full-time roles that are likely to be given to top prospects Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, the writing looked to be on the wall for veteran center David Desharnais. Now, European insider Igor Eronko reports that the 31-year-old Desharnais intends to continue his career overseas with the KHL.

Desharnais was unlikely to return to New York as he will be an unrestricted free agent in July. He signed a one-year, $1MM contract last summer to help offset the Rangers’ losses of Derek Stepan, who the team traded to Arizona, and Oscar Lindberg, who the team lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. The team had hopes that Andersson might make the team out of training camp, but also wanted insurance in case the 18-year-old didn’t. Desharnais provided that depth after Andersson was returned to Sweden, and played 71 games, but tallied just six goals and 28 points this season.

While there is no word on whether he has a deal in place, Desharnais has spent most of his career in North America, having only played 16 games during the 2012-13 strike in Switzerland. Desharnais played most of his career for the Montreal Canadiens and had several good seasons, including 60-point, 52-point and 48-point seasons between 2011 to 2015 seasons. However injuries have derailed his career and the veteran has struggled to hold onto his roster spot as the Canadiens traded him to the Edmonton Oilers last season for their playoff run, while the Oilers opted not to re-sign him last offseason.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Vegas Golden Knights

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will look at what teams are thankful for this year. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We take a look at what’s gone well in the first month and what could improve as the season rolls on.

What are the Vegas Golden Knights most thankful for?

An incredible start in their inaugural season.

No matter what happens, whether this expansion franchise ends up garnering a playoff spot at the end of the year or they fall off and end up in the lottery where everyone expected them to be, the Golden Knights have started in a positive, exciting and un-expansionlike way which Las Vegas fans won’t forget too quickly. Just to remind you, the NHL added nine expansion teams from 1991 to 2001, most of which bottomed out in their first season. The best team was the Florida Panthers who finished with a 33-34-17 season for 83 points in the 1993-94 season. In less than two months, the Golden Knights have a 11-6-1 record and are on pace to easily best those numbers.

Who are the Golden Knights more thankful for?

All those emerging expansion picks. The Golden Knights haven’t been a one-man show on offense, but their offense has been a collected effort in which the scoring has been evenly spread out. The team collected many emerging young players through the expansion draft, whether that is William Karlsson (from Columbus), Oscar Lindberg (from New York Rangers), Erik Haula (from Minnesota), Jon Marchessault (from Florida), or Cody Eakin (from Dallas) just to name a few. That doesn’t include some of the veteran talents such as James Neal (from Nashville) and David Perron (from St. Louis) or the defensive depth such as Luca Sbisa (from Vancouver), Nate Schmidt (from Washington), Brayden McNabb (from Los Angeles) and Colin Miller (from Boston).

What would the Golden Knights be more thankful for?

Healthy goaltending? It’s been well documented on how the team has been playing with their fourth-string goaltender Maxime Lagace in net for the past couple of weeks, who has fared quite well (unless you include that 8-2 loss to Edmonton last week). The team has lost the face of their franchise, Marc-Andre Fleury due to a concussion, backup Malcolm Subban to a lower-body injury and third-stringer Oskar Dansk to a lower-body injury. Lagace marked the fourth and last goaltender in their system, unless you include 2017 seventh-round pick Dylan Ferguson. Oh yeah, they did call Ferguson up on emergency from his junior team. Even the 19-year-old managed to see nine minutes of playing time. However, the team seems to have held on long enough as Ferguson has been sent back, and Subban is reportedly ready to return soon, possibly even tonight, while both Fleury and Dansk could be back shortly as well.

What should be on the Golden Knights’ Holiday Wish List?

Continued health and production for their future trade chips.

While the team is currently on a potential playoff run, the team is very likely to be active at the trade deadline. Players like Neal, Perron and Sbisa, to name a few are likely to be shopped at the trade deadline since all will be unrestricted free agents. It’s likely an expansion team isn’t going to extend any of them to long-term, high-priced contracts when the team plans to build long-term with youth. Considering how well Neal has played, he could net the team a coveted 2018 first-round pick if he can stay healthy. Both Perron and Sbisa have also improved their stocks while with Vegas and could also produce some good picks in the right deal.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Vegas Golden Knights

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Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Vegas Golden Knights

Current Cap Hit: $69,375,832 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Alex Tuch (Two years remaining, $925K)
D Shea Theodore (One year remaining, $863K)

Potential Bonuses

Tuch: $425K

While the brand-new franchise is focused on building up a powerhouse team over the next five years, which means draft picks and more draft picks, which will create a revolving door at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, there should be at least one constant who is already locked in for the future in Theodore. The just-turned 22-year-old is considered to be a long-term piece and despite the team’s overwhelming defensive logjam, the hope is Theodore is on the team’s opening day roster. Theodore shined last year during Anaheim’s playoff run when he along with several other defenseman had to step in for injured players and fared well. Theodore, a offensive defenseman, was a first-round pick of the Ducks in 2013 and despite having just nine points in 39 regular season games last year, he put up eight goals in 14 playoff games.

Tuch, a talented forward acquired near the expansion draft in a side deal with the Minnesota Wild, has a chance to immediately make the team out of training camp. The 21-year-old wing was a first-round pick in 2014 and scored 18 goals for the AHL’s Iowa Wild last year.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F James Neal ($5MM, UFA)
F Mikhail Grabovski ($5MM, UFA)
D Jason Garrison ($4.6MM, UFA)
F David Perron ($3.75MM, UFA)
D Luca Sbisa ($3.6MM, UFA)
D Clayton Stoner ($3.25MM, UFA)
D Brayden McNabb ($1.7MM, UFA)
D Jonathon Merrill ($1.14MM, RFA)
F William Karlsson ($1MM, RFA)
D Colin Miller ($1MM, RFA)
D Deryk Engelland ($1MM, UFA)
G Calvin Pickard ($1MM, RFA)
F Jon Marchessault ($750K, UFA)
F Teemu Pulkkinen ($700K, RFA)

The Golden Knights will be looking to move as many of their players at the trade deadline as they can. Neal should be their biggest trade bait as many teams wouldn’t mind adding a goal-scorer right in time for the playoffs. The 30-year-old wing is coming off a 23-goal season in Nashville and has scored 165 goals in the last six seasons combined. The team hopes that playing on a top line should keep his scoring numbers up high so that his price increases at the perfect time, but a recent report that a wrist injury suffered during the playoffs last year is still affecting Neal and he will miss two to four weeks is concerning. The team also has high hopes it can move Perron. After putting up a career-high 28 goals in 2013-14, he has struggled with injuries but rebounded last year with an 18 goal season. If he can stay healthy and produce similar numbers, he might be worth a mid to late pick.

One key decision the team will have to make is what to do with Marchessault, who is coming off a 30-goal season a year ago in Florida. At $750K, he is a bargain for the next year, but if he can duplicate his numbers from last year, he would be in line for a big payday. Complicating the situation is that Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant is a big fan of the 26-year-old and was the head coach in Florida wlast year when Marchessault started his breakout season.

The team also has a number of restricted free agents who they will likely hold onto. While Pickard’s name is rarely mentioned in Vegas as he is the current backup, don’t be surprised if Pickard is penciled in as the goaltender of the future. The 25-year-old struggled with Colorado last year (although he did have one of the worst teams around him), but was a promising prospect before that. Miller is another who should be retained. The 24-year-old was a promising defender in Boston who was just beginning to get full-time work. He got into 61 games last year and showed quite a bit of promise. Karlsson should get a bottom line spot in the lineup. The 24-year-old is coming off a 25-point season and the team hopes he takes his game up a notch.

While Grabovski likely won’t see the ice ever in Las Vegas (freeing the team of his $5MM cap hit), Garrison is a defender who may prove to have some value if he can produce on one of the team’s top defensive lines. The 32-year-old struggled at times in Tampa Bay and his offensive numbers have declined in the past couple of years. McNabb is considered to be an excellent defender and should provide solid defense for Vegas. He missed a lot of time due to a broken collarbone injury he suffered last October, forcing the 26-year-old in and out of the lineup all season and he eventually lost his starting job at the end of the year, but should get regular minutes with the Golden Knights. Sbisa is another player who should get playing time in hopes the team can move him later this year. The 27-year-old blueliner was a solid defenseman, but few teams were interested in his $3.6MM pricetag.

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Vegas Golden Knights Sign Oscar Lindberg

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The Vegas Golden Knights have inked one of their restricted free agents, signing Oscar Lindberg to a two-year, $3.4MM deal. Lindberg was the Golden Knights’ selection from the New York Rangers, a player the Rangers had to replace earlier today with David Desharnais.

With just a two-year deal, the Golden Knights will carry Lindberg to unrestricted free agency in 2019. That allowed them to keep the cap hit relatively low at $1.7MM, especially for a player who has shown an ability to hold down a checking role and contribute on the scoresheet from time to time.

Lindberg scored 20 points last season in 65 games, playing just under 11 minutes a night for the Rangers. Stuck behind Derek Stepan, Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes at the center ice position, Lindberg didn’t get much of a chance to operate with high end talent but still provided some nice secondary scoring. Though the center ice position is a little crowded in Vegas right now, Lindberg should get a chance to see the ice more often than in New York, and show off the offensive talent he had in the AHL and Sweden.

Vegas has Vadim Shipachyov, Cody Eakin, William Karlsson penciled into the center position already, but there’s a real chance the team moves on from one of them (not Shipachyov) before the season begins. Jonathan Marchessault who also has center experience, could play the wing for the club this year and try to turn in another 30-goal season. Either way, it’s likely that the team spreads the icetime out a bit more and Lindberg should get an opportunity to contribute.

Rumored Vegas Golden Knights Expansion Selections

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The Vegas Golden Knights will reveal their expansion selections at tonight’s NHL Awards show, but details have started to come in on who each team will lose. There are many rumors floating around, but these are the most reputable. As with anything, nothing is final until the actual selections are announced tonight. This page will be updated with new information as it comes in.

Here are the latest rumored selections along with their source:

Anaheim Ducks: Clayton Stoner — Bob McKenzie of TSN

Arizona Coyotes: 

Boston Bruins: Colin Miller — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Buffalo Sabres: William Carrier — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Calgary Flames: Deryk Engelland — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Carolina Hurricanes:

Chicago Blackhawks: Trevor van Riemsdyk — Frank Seravalli of TSN

Colorado Avalanche:

Columbus Blue Jackets: William Karlsson — Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch

Dallas Stars: Cody Eakin — Jim Toth of TSN

Detroit Red Wings: Tomas Nosek — Craig Custance of The Athletic.

Edmonton Oilers: Griffin Reinhart — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Florida Panthers: Jon Marchessault — Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet

Los Angeles Kings: Brayden McNabb — John Shannon of Sportsnet

Minnesota Wild: Erik Haula — Michael Russo of the Star Tribune

Montreal Canadiens: Alexei Emelin — Eric Engels of Sportsnet

Nashville Predators: James Neal — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New Jersey Devils: Jon Merrill — Frank Seravalli of TSN

New York Islanders: Jean-Francois Berube — Bob McKenzie of TSN

New York Rangers: Oscar Lindberg — Larry Brooks of the New York Post and Frank Seravalli of TSN.

Ottawa Senators: Marc Methot — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Philadelphia Flyers: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Craig Custance of The Athletic

Pittsburgh Penguins: Marc-Andre Fleury – Bob McKenzie of TSN

San Jose Sharks: David Schlemko — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

St. Louis Blues: David Perron — James Mirtle of The Athletic

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Toronto Maple Leafs: Brendan Leipsic — Darren Dreger of TSN

Vancouver Canucks:

Washington Capitals: Nate Schmidt — Pierre LeBrun of TSN

Winnipeg Jets:

Vegas Will Not Select Rangers’ Antti Raanta

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Although New York Rangers backup goalie Antti Raanta has been a popular draft selection by the Vegas Golden Knights not only in our PHR Mock Expansion Draft, but by pundits throughout hockey media. Yet, according to a Rangers insider, the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, the pick will not be Raanta after all. Instead, Brooks is reporting that young center Oscar Lindberg will be selected.

This news should come as a major sigh of relief for Blueshirt fans, as Raanta was spectacular in relief of starter Henrik Lundqvist in 2016-17. In a career-high 30 appearances, Raanta posted a .922 save percentage and 2.26 goals against average en route to 16 wins for the Rangers. The extra rest for Lunqvist also allowed the 34-year-old veteran to stay fresh and making nine less starts than in 2015-16 led in part to Lundqvist’s strong performance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Had the Rangers lost Raanta, not only would they have surrendered a great asset for nothing, but they also would have been pressed into the goalie market this summer to try to find a new suitable backup without much cap space to spare.

Not only should New York fans be happy about not losing Raanta, but the Lindberg leak also means they’ve avoided losing Michael Grabner as well. Grabner had an excellent first season in New York, scoring 27 goals and 40 total points as an unexpected key contributor to the Ranger offense. Yet, Grabner could not be protected what with the impressive young forward depth that the Blueshirts have. Signed on for one more year at just $1.65MM, it also would have been a shame to see such a good fit and affordable weapon leave via expansion. Instead, the 25-year-old Lindberg, who has played a regular role for the Rangers in the past two years but has failed to make the jump to a scoring role, will take his place.

Expansion Primer: New York Rangers

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We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

Until today, the Expansion Draft plan for GM Jeff Gorton and the New York Rangers remained unclear. The time had come and gone to ask overpaid blueliners Marc Staal and Dan Girardi or the underachieving Rick Nash to waive their No-Movement clauses and the team declined. They were also cutting it close should they choose to extend one of their impending free agent forwards and make their expansion decisions easier, with protection lists due on Saturday. New York has one of the deepest groups of forwards in the NHL, even with rookies Jimmy Vesey and Pavel Buchnevich draft-exempt, yet the team had not taken any steps to protect their core. At least not until this morning…

The Rangers announced two moves earlier today, the first being an extension for impending restricted free agent forward Matt Puempel. With term now on his contract, Puempel meets all the criteria to be one of two mandatory forwards exposed in the Expansion Draft, saving them from otherwise having to expose a core forward. The second announcement was the long-awaited end to the Girardi era, as the stated their plans to buy out the veteran tomorrow, opening up a slot on the blue line for them to protect the underrated Nick Holden.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards
Rick Nash (NMC), Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, Mika Zibanejad, Jesper Fast, Daniel Catenacci, Matt Puempel, Oscar Lindberg, Nicklas Jensen, Brandon Pirri

Defense
Marc Staal (NMC), Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Klein, Nick Holden, Steven Kampfer, Michael Paliotta, Adam Clendening

Goaltender
Henrik Lundqvist, Antti Raanta, Mackenzie Skapski

Notable Exemptions

Jimmy Vesey, Brady Skjei, Pavel Buchnevich, Cristoval Nieves

Key Decisions

With Rick Nash holding on to his No-Movement clause, the Rangers have just six spots left to protect a large group of impact forwards: Mats Zuccarello, Derek Stepan, J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, Michael Grabner, and restricted free agent Mika Zibanejad. Despite a unexpected outburst of 40 points in his first season in New York, Grabner is the easy target to point at as not like the rest of the Rangers’ young and mostly homegrown talents. Many Ranger fans wouldn’t have minded holding on to Grabner, at $1.65MM next year, over Nash, who will make $7.8MM again in 2017-18 after recording less than 40 points in three of the past four seasons.

It’s hard to make a case for any of the other six being offered up instead of Grabner. Zuccarello is the oldest of the group, but he’s still only 29 and has led the team in scoring in three of the past four seasons. Zucarello is almost certainly safe. At just 23 years old, Miller has taken a bigger and bigger role for the Blueshirts with each year and is perhaps the franchise’s best building block. He too is a near guarantee. While both Stepan and Kreider have heard whispers of trade rumors in each of the past two seasons, with Stepan’s growing louder in recent days, both are far too good to give up for free and will likely be protected. After trading away Derick Brassard last off-season to acquire Zibanejad, it seems highly unlikely that the team would risk losing him already, even if his first season in New York was marred by injury. Finally, Hayes, who has done nothing but excel in any role the Rangers have given him since signing with the Rangers out of college three years ago, and it would be a major surprise to see them choose Grabner over him.

Thus, it seems Grabner will likely join Puempel as the Rangers’ unprotected forwards and with the decisions in net and on the blue line pretty clear-cut, the Rangers have gone from a confusing expansion scenario about 24 hours ago to one of the easiest teams to project.

Projected Protection List

Scheme: 7F/3D/1G

Forwards

Rick Nash (NMC)
Mats Zuccarello
J.T. Miller
Derek Stepan
Chris Kreider
Mika Zibanejad
Kevin Hayes

Defensemen

Marc Staal (NMC)
Ryan McDonagh
Nick Holden

Goalie

Henrik Lundqvist

The Rangers barely have any decisions to make in regards to their protection on defense and in net. All-world keeper Henrik Lundqvist is obviously safe, leaving skilled backup Antti Raanta as an intriguing target for the Golden Knights. Vegas GM George McPhee has stated that the team could select many promising goalies in the Expansion Draft and guage who to keep and who to trade away after the fact. Raanta could indeed be one of those picks.

On the blue line, the buy out of Dan Girardi will leave one more spot open to join go to the team’s best defender and captain, Ryan McDonagh, and Marc Staal, who was not asked to waive his No-Movement clause. The only real candidate to fill that spot is Nick Holden. Kevin Klein, who is reportedly mulling retirement, meets the 40/70 criteria to fill the one-defenseman exposure quota, but is not a viable target for Vegas. The only other defenseman under contract for the Rangers is journeyman Steven Kampfer, another player who would be a strange selection for the Golden Knights. Restricted free agent Adam Clendening, despite showing signs of upside in 2016-17, has already been informed that he will not receiving a qualifying offer and will become an unrestricted free agent, like several other Rangers blue liners, and again it is unlikely that the Knights will waste picks on UFA’s.  For all intents and purposes, the Girardi buyout ensures that no further changes will be coming to the New York defense in the coming week.

If Vegas passes on Raanta, they will likely instead turn to offense and, more likely than not, Michael Grabner. After his best season since he nearly won the Calder Trophy in 2010-11, Grabner appears to be back at the top of his game and could be hard to pass up for a Vegas team that will have a hard time finding scoring in the Expansion Draft and this summer’s free agency class. The loss of Grabner would be far greater than that of Jesper Fast or Oscar Lindberg or any other possible player, though don’t rule out the possibility that the Knights simply take youth and upside over established skill.

The situation in New York has gained great clarity today and now they face one of the more predictable expansion situations in the NHL. However, that doesn’t mean that they will escape the draft unscathed. A deep, talented team like the Rangers seems destined to take a hit next week.

Rangers Notes: Staal, Girardi, Smith, Raanta

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The New York Rangers have not made a request to either Marc Staal or Dan Girardi as of yesterday about waiving their No Movement Clauses, according to New York Posts’ Larry Brooks. Both veteran defenders are coming off down years and have sizable contracts, which likely would make them unattractive to the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. Many believe the team will ask one or both to waive that No Movement Clause with the hopes of being able to protect other defenders. Staal still has four years at $5.7MM remaining on his contract. Girardi has three years at $5.5MM remaining.

Brooks writes that it’s still possible the Rangers could ask, but says it’s unlikely because since the club must ask before Monday afternoon’s deadline, the club would likely had given them more time to think about it. That leaves several possibilities, including waiving one of them or possibly exposing veteran Nick Holden in the expansion draft and hoping the Golden Knights might take him as opposed to some of their young forwards or goaltender Antti Raanta. Holden is coming off a regular season in which he scored 11 goals and 23 assists for a 34-point season. He might make a good veteran defensive leader or a good trade piece for Las Vegas.

  • The Rangers are the top candidates to re-sign defenseman Brendan Smith. According to Brooks, Smith is willing to discuss a contract before unrestricted free agency begins and give the Rangers a window to ink him to a contract, so long as it’s a “market-price” offer. Smith, a defensive defenseman, was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings at the trade deadline for third-round pick this year and a second-round pick in 2018. The 28-year-old is a key component to their defense and played well in their playoff run.
  • The scribe also writes that several teams, including the Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets have inquired about Raanta, who is the team’s backup goaltender. However, the Rangers have not committed to trading him yet and may wait until just before expansion rosters are due to make a decision. No doubt, the hope is to raise the price for the young goaltender as offers have not been overwhelming.
  • The Rangers and general manager Jeff Gorton have until Friday to lock up one of their restricted free agents to comply with the draft exposure regulations. The team must agree with either Jesper Fast, Oscar Lindberg or Matt Puempel in order to comply. All three know this and are using this as leverage to get a better deal, according to Brooks. If the Rangers are unable to sign one of them or trade for an eligible forward by Friday, they would be subject to penalties from the NHL, including possibly getting stripped of draft picks.

Expected Extensions Prior To Expansion

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Over the next few weeks, leading up to  June 17th, when each team must submit their list of protected players from the Expansion Draft, there is going to be a flurry of activity. The Vegas Golden Knights are expected to make several side deals regarding the selection process, while the other 30 teams will be working through trade proposals with one another as well. Many teams will also make smaller moves, such as extensions and buyouts, to make the expansion process easier on themselves. Examples could include potential extensions by Carolina or San Jose if they decide they would like to protect Lee Stempniak or Mikkel Boedker respectively. However, there remain several teams that must re-sign a current player, following logic anyway, prior to Saturday the 17th, or else risk having to expose and possibly losing a major piece instead. Each team must expose two forwards and one defenseman that played in at least 40 games this season or 70 games over the past two seasons and also have term remaining on their contract. While meeting these quotas is not a problem for some teams, others lack the roster depth in long-term contracts to do so. No team wants to be pressured into exposing a valued player just to fill that quota, so instead they will sign another current player with the caveat that he will be left unprotected in the Expansion Draft. Such situations played out all year long, with Blackhawks’ forward Jordin Tootoo, Hurricanes’ defenseman Klas Dahlbeck, and, the most publicized of all, Flames’ defenseman Matt Bartkowksi. Yet, unsolved situations still exist. Below are some of the most dire situations and who could benefit from an extension in the near future in order for their team to comply with Expansion Draft rules:

Team: New Jersey Devils

Situation: The re-building Devils nonetheless have a solid core of forwards that they would like to keep together: Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Adam Henrique, Travis Zajac, and Mike Cammalleri. New Jersey should be within their means to protect this group, expect that it leaves only Devante Smith-Pelly as a forward meeting the 40/70 qualification. Even for those who doubt the effectiveness going forward of the oft-injured 34-year-old Cammalleri, surely the Devils could find a better player to sacrifice than he or Smith-Pelly if they so choose.

Expected Extension: As a young team, the devils are chock full of impending restricted free agents. However, not all RFAs are created equal. Beau Bennett, Jacob Josefson, and Stefan Noesen are all candidates for extension and exposure, but Bennett played a bigger role for New Jersey than even Smith-Pelly in 2016-17 and Noesen played the best hockey of his young career after a mid-season trade from the Anaheim Ducks. Josefson has shown next to no progress in six years in New Jersey. Look for the Devils to try to work out an extension with the 25-year-old center to fill the hole in their expansion plan.

 

Team: New York Rangers

Situation: The Devils’ cross-town rivals are in a similar situation. The Rangers have put together a core of forwards that is the envy of most teams in the league, but it could soon be torn apart. Many feel that backup goalie Antti Raanta will be Vegas’ choice, but New York doesn’t want to give them any reason not to go that route and instead steal a good young forward. The team is already reserved to the fact that 2016-17 breakout star Michael Grabner has to be exposed, but they would rather protect all five of Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes, in addition to Rick Nash, whose No-Movement Clause prevents exposure, and impending RFA Mika Zibanejad. The only problem is that this protection scheme leaves only Grabner as a 40/7o forward.

Expected Extension: The Rangers are not without options for a forward to extend and expose. RFA’s Jesper Fast, Oscar Lindberg, Brandon Pirri, and Matt Puempel would all meet the quota criteria if handed a new deal, as would UFA Tanner Glass. While New York may not be eager to lose any of the four, none significantly outshine Raanta or Grabner in terms of selection value anyway, giving the team every reason to get an extension done with one or more. Fast seems certain to get a new contract from the Rangers anyway, so don’t be surprised if such a deal lands in the next week or two.

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Snapshots: IIHF, Stepan, Ritchie

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The final matches of the IIHF World Championships take place today. Canada had earned their slot after a come-from-behind victory over Russia, and Sweden edged out Finland for the right to play for gold. Finland and Russia are currently playing their bronze medal match, while Canada and Sweden will play at 3:45 CST.

Toronto fans should be excited about the further progression of William Nylander, who leads Sweden in scoring, and also Mitch Marner, who has tallied 11 points in 9 games for the Canadian team. Also playing well for Sweden is Carolina forward Elias Lindholm, who will be entering the final year of his $2.7 MM contract. Nathan MacKinnon is probably Canada’s best player in the tournament, and Colorado fans can dare to be hopeful following a mediocre outing for his squad last season. He is under contract for 6 more seasons at $6.3 MM, so reaching his potential is a huge part of the squad’s future plans.

  • New York Post reporter Larry Brooks wrote an interesting piece on the possibility of  the Rangers seeking to  move Derek Stepan for defensive help. Especially since it seems likely that one of Girardi and/or Staal will be bought out, the defense needs a great deal of attention this offseason. Both players have taken a massive downward turn, and with Henrik Lundqvist’s regression, there is definitely room for concern. However, the Rangers may wish to think twice about moving a useful, young center. He’s only 26 years old, plays a strong defensive game, and has put up 50+ points in 4 consecutive seasons. Although Mats Zuccarello had a breakout season, at 5’7″ and 29 years old, losing a winger might be easier for the organization than forfeiting their number one center. Although, to Brooks’ point, the Rangers’ center position is strongest, there the serious possibility that Oscar Lindberg isn’t ready for top-six duties over the course of a full season. Dangling Zuccarello coming off a career-year may be the more prudent, if far less beloved, decision.
  • An intriguing, if ultimately inconsequential sidenote from last night’s amazing Western Conference Finals Game 5 – there was slight bedlam with only 10 seconds remaining. According to league rules, any instigating player who starts a fight with under 5 minutes remaining is subject to an automatic one-game suspension. Although the scrum involved every skater, of note was the tussle between Anaheim’s Nick Ritchie and Nashville’s Mattias Ekholm resorted to actual blows. Ritchie seemed to be the instigator, as Ekholm refused to actually drop his mitts despite throwing punches in response. Ekholm did lose his one glove while holding on to Ritchie, but it could be argued that he never intended to do so. Were that the case, by the letter of the NHL Rulebook, Ritchie would be subject to that automatic suspension. There has been no word on the matter from the league, and no punishment should be expected as the players were only assessed roughing minors on the play.

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