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The Rangers need another Russian forward with Buchnevich, and here are some options
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Claus Anderson/Getty Images.
A few days ago, Jeff Gorton inked Russian prospect Pavel Buchnevich to his entry level contract, a three year deal with performance bonuses and a $925k cap hit. Buchnevich is poised to be an impact player pretty early into his NHL career, but he’s missing one thing; a mentor.
Just about every big name Russian NHL prospect has had another player on their team, also Russian, to help the transition to the NHL and serve as a translator on the ice and in the locker room. Most recently, Artemi Panarin had Artem Anisimov to help him with that, and guys like Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin have all had a mentor from their homeland.
The Rangers are fortunate that Chris Kreider speaks fluent Russian, and that will certainly help ease Buchnevich’s transition onto the smaller ice and into North America. And we all know that chemistry between the speedy Kreider and Buch, an excellent passer and playmaker, would be absolutely fantastic. But to make the move as easy as possible, it would be wise for the team to go out and get a native Russian to mentor their newest player.
With that in mind, here are some options for the Rangers this offseason. Read the rest of this entry
Nicklas Jensen for Etem swap is paying unexpected dividends
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of the New York Rangers.
Many people complained about Etem’s usage and the lack of chances that he was given, but personally, I never saw anything from Etem. He really wasn’t that effective offensively, had trouble with the puck, and he wasn’t good in puck battles against the boards, which he pointed out as one of his strengths. So trading him for some kind of prospect was a smart move.
Jeff Gorton sent Etem to Vancouver, reuniting him with his junior hockey coach, and getting 23 year old Danish prospect Nicklas Jensen in return. Jensen didn’t turn any heads or create headlines, as he seemed to be just a middle of the pack AHL prospect. Read the rest of this entry
BREAKING: Rangers sign Pavel Buchnevich to Entry Level Contract
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Claus Andersen/Getty Images.
The long awaited news has finally been announced, with the Rangers breaking the news on Twitter that highly touted Russian prospect Pavel Buchnevich has signed his Entry Level Contract, and will play in North America next season. The deal is believed to be three years with a $925k cap hit. (per CapFriendly)
OFFICIAL: #NYR have agreed to terms with forward Pavel Buchnevich on an entry-level contract. pic.twitter.com/gqFSv0YeZG
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 13, 2016
In this last season in the KHL, Buchnevich scored 16 goals and 37 points in 58 games with the Severstal Cherepovets and SKA St. Petersburg, as well as scoring another three points (1-2-3) in the playoffs. Buch is the best prospect in the Rangers’ system, and his KHL numbers at this age are similar to other Russian NHL players Evgeny Kuznetsov and Vladimir Tarasenko, although on the lower end. Read the rest of this entry
Ranking the Rangers—Part One: 20-26
John Dundon
This will be a series of posts in which we rank players on the Rangers roster who played at least 10 games (Regular season/playoffs) as a Blueshirt in 2015-2016. Let’s get right into it:
26: Danny Paille
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
OH GOD SHIELD YOUR EYES!
Paille played in 12 games as a Ranger from Late-January into February, and boy were they memorable. Not in a good way.
Paille was a team worst 35.1% CF% with exactly ZERO goals and ZERO assists. His signing came at a time when the Rangers were looking for help on the penalty kill. All Paille did was make the already pathetic PK worse. There is no bright spot here. Watching Paille squirm out there, dragging Dom Moore down with him was painful. Although it took them a month, they finally did away with Paillie, but the damage had already been done. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers should go after Brian Campbell in the offseason to help defensive woes
Bobby Bevilacqua
Brian Campbell with the Panthers. Photo courtesy of Steve Mitchell/US PRESSWIRE.
Just three days ago, the Florida Panthers announced that they had agreed to a one year deal with 24 year old defenseman Erik Gudbranson. On the surface, it didn’t seem like a big deal at all.
But signing Gudbranson means that the Panthers now have seven defensemen under contract (Ekblad, Gudbranson, Kampfer, Kindl, Kulikov, Matheson and Petrovic). The team is fully embracing the youth movement, going with a roster that is full of newer and younger players, and they’re keeping a select few veterans around.
One of the vets that now seems like a lock to leave Sunrise, Florida is defenseman Brian Campbell. “Soupy” has been one of the offensive leaders from the blue line in his five seasons with the Panthers, scoring 27 points or more in each season, and recording a career high 53 points (4-49-53) in the 2011-12 season. This past year Campbell scored six goals and 31 points in 82 games. Read the rest of this entry
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