Blog Archives
BREAKING: Rangers acquire Eric Staal from the Hurricanes
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Welp, the Rangers have done it again.
For the third straight year, the Rangers have made a splash at the trade deadline, acquiring Eric Staal, the face of the franchise and captain of the Carolina Hurricanes. But with Jeff Gorton in charge and not Glen Sather, things were handled a bit differently.
In exchange for Staal, the Rangers sent two second round draft picks and Finnish prospect Aleksi Saarela, a 2015 third round draft pick. On top of that, the Hurricanes agreed to retain 50% of Eric Staal’s salary, giving him a cap hit of just $4,125,000, which they can afford without placing Rick Nash on LTIR. Read the rest of this entry
Should the Rangers shut Rick Nash down for the rest of the regular season?
John Dundon
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
Rangers forward Rick Nash has been sidelined since late January with what the team has called a bone bruise.
Nash collided into the boards awkwardly Jan. 22 against the Carolina Hurricanes. The fall and subsequent collision looked pretty bad at first. When Nash returned in the third period of that game a collective sigh was let out amongst the blueshirt faithful. It was revealed later that week that Nash would be “day to day,” that diagnosis soon became “week to week” from Rangers bench boss Alain Vigneault.
While Nash has resumed working out off the ice, he hasn’t been skating periodically since the lower body injury. With the NHL trade deadline now less than one week away, the fact that there is just over two months left in the season and the Rangers superstar winger still sidelined, the question begs asking: should the Rangers shut down their star winger by putting him on long term injured reserve? Read the rest of this entry
Evaluating the Rangers’ potential trade pieces
Bobby Bevilacqua
Oscar Lindberg could be a trade chip at the deadline. Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
It’s no secret that the Rangers are preparing to add a player or two before Monday’s deadline approaches. Unlike the last few seasons, it’s unclear whether or not they’ll make another big splash (unlikely) or instead try and add a depth player or two to improve the bottom six.
Players like Eric Staal, Andrew Ladd, Radim Vrbata and Kris Versteeg have been thrown around. The latter two are the more likely for the Rangers to add because of their smaller cap hits and the lower price. With this year’s draft pick almost certainly going to the Coyotes, the Rangers can’t afford to keep on sending first rounders to other teams. So here’s what they can do with what they already have.
Chris Kreider – Now lots of people, including myself, have talked about the possibility of trading Chris Kreider by this season’s deadline. A supposed swap of Kreider and Loui Eriksson from Boston has been thrown out as a rumor. The thought process is that the Rangers won’t be able to afford to keep JT Miller, Kevin Hayes and Kreider, and that Miller and Hayes are both better, further developed players. Read the rest of this entry
Rangers stumble in New Jersey without Staal and Miller; Hrivik records first career point
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
On the first game of their three game road trip, Henrik Lundqvist was brilliant but the Rangers (34-20-6) were dominated by the New Jersey Devils (30-24-7) for the last 40 minutes, losing 5-2 and losing their third game this season to their rivals in Newark.
This game had everything. Lots of action and scoring chances early on, some great performances from each of the goaltenders, and goals galore. Plus an ejection for having tape too low on the hands (more on that later).
The Rangers wound up being without Marc Staal in this game after he tweaked something in his lower body. Brady Skjei was recalled from Hartford and he played pretty darn well, logging over 22 minutes of ice time. Read the rest of this entry
No love lost for Valentine’s Day rematch between the Rangers and Flyers
Bobby Bevilacqua
Photo courtesy of MSG Photos.
It may be Valentine’s Day, but there will be no love or affection shown on the ice when the Rangers (38-16-6) take on the Philadelphia Flyers (24-20-10) as they rematch back at Madison Square Garden in what is likely to be a physical, high intensity contest.
The games between these two rival clubs always have another level of intensity to them, but it will be even higher tonight following Wayne Simmonds giving Ryan McDonagh a concussion following a sucker punch to the face. Simmonds received a match penalty and Ryan McDonagh remains out of the lineup.
The Rangers lost in their last game on Friday, surrendering a late goal to the Los Angeles Kings and falling in overtime. The Blueshirts trailed 2-0 after 12 minutes, and wound up scoring three straight goals, and then making it 4-3 late. Viktor Stalberg, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes all scored. Read the rest of this entry
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