Bobby Bevilacqua

Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

This afternoon, New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton announced that the team has recalled Cristoval Nieves from the Hartford Wolf Pack, and he will join the team immediately.

Nieves has skated in 13 games with Hartford, registering a goal and five assists, putting him third on the team in points and second in assists. He has recorded four assists/points in the last seven games and is the only member of the Wolf Pack to not have a penalty called against him. In 21 career AHL games, he has a total of three goals and 11 points.

Nieves, the Rangers’ second round draft pick in 2012, played for four years at the University of Michigan, scoring 28 goals and 82 assists for a total of 110 points. In his senior season, he recorded 10 goals and 21 assists as well as a plus-nine rating in 35 games, while posting a career high 59.5% faceoff win percentage.

With Gorton recalling Nieves, that likely means that neither Chris Kreider nor Pavel Buchnevich will be ready to play tomorrow. Kreider has an “upper body injury” that needs further evaluation while Buchnevich was a last minute scratch yesterday with back spasms.

If Nieves plays tomorrow against Vancouver, it would be the 22-year-old’s NHL debut. Nieves is known for his defensive ability, as he has always been responsible away from the puck and in critical situations with some scoring ability to boot. My guess is that he would center the fourth line, with either Oscar Lindberg or Brandon Pirri moving up in the lineup.