Blog Archives

Rangers acquire Antti Raanta from Chicago

Bobby Bevilacqua

Antti_Raanta

The Rangers found their new backup, trading for Antti Raanta from the Chicago Blackhawks. Photo courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks.

It didn’t take long for the Rangers to find their new backup goalie, trading for Antti Raanta from the Chicago Blackhawks, and sending prospect Ryan Haggerty their way.

Rangers fans should be familiar with Ryan Haggerty, as he has been around the team’s training camp and preseason games for quite some time now. He played his first season in the AHL, finishing with 33 points (15-18-33) in 76 regular season games. He never really did enough to stand out amongst the other prospects, and the Rangers didn’t have any room for him on the NHL roster. Haggerty will surely get a chance to compete for a spot on the Blackhawks roster, mainly because they are looking for cheap, effective forwards.

Antti Raanta was the third goalie for Chicago, behind Scott Darling and Corey Crawford on the roster. But it wasn’t because of his skill. The cap-strapped Blackhawks went with the cheaper, and solid option in Darling for the second half of the regular season and the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers ship Cam Talbot to the Oilers for three draft picks

Bobby Bevilacqua

cam talbot pad save 3-24

The trade has finally happened. Cam Talbot is now an Edmonton Oiler, and will take over their starting goalie duties for next season. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

The long awaited Cam Talbot trade has finally taken place, and like many expected, he will be wearing Oilers’ orange and blue next season.

It was expected that Glen Sather was pushing to get a first round draft pick for Talbot after Robin Lehner fetched the 21st overall pick for the Senators, but he was unable to do that, with Talbot remaining a Ranger until today.

The Oilers finally completed the trade with the Rangers, acquiring Cam Talbot to be their starting goalie of the future. In return, the Rangers received a second round pick (57), a third round pick (79th), and they swapped seventh round picks with Edmonton, moving up to the 184th pick.

The Rangers wound up trading the 57th pick to the Washington Capitals for the 62nd and 113th picks. Read the rest of this entry

Rangers trade Carl Hagelin to Anaheim for Emerson Etem

Bobby Bevilacqua

hagelin hi-5 line 11-9

The Rangers have traded the rights to Carl Hagelin as well as some picks to the Anaheim Ducks for Emerson Etem and a higher second round draft pick. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

The Rangers made their first big trade of the day, and it didn’t involve Cam Talbot (yet).

During the second round of the draft, the Rangers traded the rights to Carl Hagelin along with the 59th and 179th pick to the Anaheim Ducks for Emerson Etem and the 41st pick in the second round.

Carl Hagelin is an upcoming RFA, and was due for a big raise, something that the Rangers could not afford. Hagelin earned $2.25 million this past season, and was expected to command over $4 million. With Sather needing to sign Derek Stepan, as well as some other key players like Jesper Fast and JT Miller, there was very little room to sign Hagelin. Read the rest of this entry

Robin Lehner traded to Buffalo, what this means for Cam Talbot

Bobby Bevilacqua

cam talbot side profile 3-22

The Ottawa Sabres were able to get a first round draft pick in exchange for Robin Lehner and Devid Legwand. Talbot’s stats are better, so could he fetch the same return, or more? Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

This morning, the Buffalo Sabres acquired their new starting goaltender, trading away the 21st overall pick in return for David Legwand and 23 year old goalie Robin Lehner.

While Lehner is younger than Talbot, his stats are not all that impressive. The 6-foot-5, 225 pound goaltender has a career 30-36-13 record in 86 total games, posting a .914 save percentage and a 2.88 GAA. In this past season, Lehner was 9-12-3 in 25 games with a .903 save percentage and a 3.02 GAA.

His largest sample size came during the 2013-14 season, when he played 35 games, and finishing with a 12-15-6 record along with a .913 save percentage, a 3.03 GAA and one shutout. Read the rest of this entry

Around the League: Overtime changed, coach’s challenge, Schedule released, expansion?

Bobby Bevilacqua

rick nash skating 5-13

The NHL announced the move to 3-on-3 overtime hockey for the 2015-16 season, which means that guys like Rick Nash will have plenty of room to work with. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.

With the NHL draft looming, and the end-of-season meeting taking place between the league’s GMs, the NHL made some changes to the overtime rules in the regular season, and discussed some other potential changes as well.

The first change will begin at the start of next season, with the overtime rules being changed in an effort to make the shootout less frequent. The NHL will feature 3-on-3 overtime play in hopes that more space on the ice and less players will lead to more scoring chances, more odd man rushes, and more goals.

The format that will be used in the NHL next season is different than what was seen in the AHL this year. In the AHL, they played 4-on-4 hockey for three minutes, and then switched to 3-on-3 for the final four minutes. The NHL will have just one five minute overtime period, with 3-on-3 played for the entire time. Read the rest of this entry