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Tuomo Ruutu

New York Rangers Hire Tanner Glass, Tuomo Ruutu

at CDT | by 2 Comments

The New York Rangers have made quite a few additions to their hockey operations department today, with several familiar faces among the group. Tuomo Ruutu and Tanner Glass have been hired as assistant directors of player development, Chris Morehouse will become the director of North American scouting, Marshall Davidson and Derek Ginnell have been added as amateur scouts. Steve Konowalchuk will move from the amateur to pro scouting department, while David Cunniff has officially been named assistant coach of the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Glass, 35, played three seasons in the Rangers organization just a few years ago and became something of a folk hero for some fans. The fourth-line winger 69 regular season points over parts of 11 NHL seasons, but ended up playing in 30 postseason contests with the Rangers and scored a game-winning tally in 2017. The hard-nosed forward was never asked to do much more than protect his teammates and set a physical tone, but carved out a pretty impressive professional career.

Ruutu, 36, had a very different role in the NHL. While his brother Jarkko Ruutu was known as one of the league’s most effective pests, the younger Tuomo brought plenty of skill to the table. Selected ninth overall in 2001, Ruutu scored 148 goals in his 735-game NHL career and broke the 40-point mark three times. That’s not to say he didn’t have his own agitating edge, routinely being among the league leading forwards in hits.

Player development is extremely important all across the league, but perhaps even more so in New York right now as they try to transition from a rebuild back to contention. Their hopes rely on several young players taking positive steps towards becoming the best NHL versions of themselves, something that Glass and Ruutu will assist with.

Tuomo Ruutu Signs In Switzerland

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According to Sami Hoffren of Ilta-Sanomat (Finland), former NHL forward Tuomo Ruutu has signed with HC Davos of the NLA (Switzerland). It’s a one-year deal for the 33-year old, meaning a return to the NHL next year is not out of the question.

After finding himself unable to secure anything but a PTO with the Canucks this summer, Ruutu was cut just before the start of the season. He’ll now continue his playing career overseas, where he may be able to find some offensive success once again.

As a rookie in 2003-04, it seemed as though a young Ruutu was set to take the league by storm, scoring 23 goals and 44 points on a terrible Chicago team. It looked as though the club had a quartet of young forwards to build around as Tyler Arnason, Mark Bell and Kyle Calder (all 24 or younger) each also scored 20+ goals.  That year and the one following would prove to be the high-point for each of them however, until Ruutu rediscovered his game in Carolina in 2008-09. 26 goals and 54 points would represent a career high for the Finn, and the only time he’d see the playoffs in his NHL career.

A ninth-overall pick, Ruutu never did fulfill on his potential of an elite point producer, and has only contributed 19 goals in the last four seasons. Davos is 8-8-1 and struggling in 9th place, and could use the offensive help; they’ve only scored 46 goals in 17 games, while surrendering 54.

Canucks Ink Sheppard, Ruutu To PTO’s; Eight Teams Interested In Fleischmann

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The Vancouver Canucks have agreed on tryout contracts with free agent wingers James Sheppard and Tuomo Ruutu, GM Jim Benning confirmed to Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province.

Sheppard spent last season with the Kloten Flyers of the Swiss NLA, recording 11 goals and 24 assists with 67 PIMS in 37 games.  He also represented Team Canada at the Spengler Cup back in December.

Originally a first round pick (ninth overall) of Minnesota back in 2006, Sheppard hasn’t had much in the way of NHL success so far.  He has suited up for three different teams (the Wild, Sharks, and Rangers), last seeing NHL action in 2014-15.  In 394 career games, he has 23 goals and 68 assists.

As for Ruutu, he has spent the last three years with the Devils but has seen his role decline sharply in that time.  He played in just 33 games last year, recording only a single assist.

He has two 50+ point seasons in his 12 year NHL career with Chicago, Carolina, and New Jersey but he hasn’t hit 30 points in four years.  In 735 NHL games, the ninth overall pick back in 2001 has 148 goals and 198 assists.

Both players will likely contend for a fourth line/reserve spot with the Canucks.

Another player receiving interest for a PTO is left winger Tomas Fleischmann.  His agent, Rich Evans, was on News 1130 in Vancouver and reported that eight teams have expressed an interest in bringing in the 32 year old to training camp.  He declined to confirm or deny if Vancouver is among those eight teams.

Fleischmann is no stranger to this situation as he attended Montreal’s training camp on an invite last year, eventually earning a one year, $750K contract.  He got off to a strong start with the Canadiens but tapered off and was eventually dealt before the deadline to Chicago where he collected five points in 19 games.

Fleischmann has 657 games of NHL experience under his belt with Washington, Colorado, Florida, Anaheim, Montreal, and Chicago, recording 137 goals and 198 assists but hasn’t hit the 30 point plateau since 2012-13.

It’s likely to be a busy week for tryout deals with training camps kicking off next week.  Keep track of who is trying out where with our Invite Tracker.

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