Bringing on Ryan O’Reilly would upset the Rangers’ salary structure
For years financial ineptitude crippled the Rangers franchise, but what was once an enormous weakness has turned into the backbone of the organization’s success.
Last week I advocated for the possibility of trading for Ryan O’Reilly (before news of Colorado’s asking price of Michael Del Zotto + Chris Kreider/J.T. Miller broke). A few days later, Larry Brooks reported that the Rangers would not pursue O’Reilly because of his contract demands and more importantly, how they would affect the organization’s salary structure.
As much as I would like to see O’Reilly on Broadway, Brooks makes a very strong point. Read more »
- Carl Hagelin has scored 6 goals in his last 7 games after going goal-less for 36 straight. Hagelin has scored in 4 games in a row and has 7 points (5 goals, 2 assists) in his last 4 games.
- Christian Thomas has 10 points in his last 11 games for the CT Whale after being scratched on January 20th. Thomas scored for the 4th time in 5 games on Sunday.
- Oscar Lindberg ranks 9th in the Swedish Elite League with 37 points (16 goals, 21 assists) in 48 games. Jesper Fast is just behind, ranking 16th with 18 goals and 15 assists in 41 games. Those numbers should be very encouraging given how low-scoring the SEL usually is, but remember that Mats Zuccarello won MVP honors 3 years ago with 64 points in 55 games and that didn’t turn out so well. Read more »
Renaud Lavoie is reporting that the Rangers have signed goalie Cam Talbot to a two-year contract extension tonight. Talbot is 18-19-1 with a 2.56 GAA and a .918 SV% with the CT Whale this season, where he has played since 2009. The signing indicates the Rangers have seen a (very) small glimmer of hope that Talbot could be the heir to the throne, but the organization still needs to acquire a legitimate goalie prospect.
The most interesting thing about the news: in year one Talbot will make $550k on a two-way deal, but in 2014-2015, Talbot will get $575k on a one-way NHL contract. That happens to be the year after Marty Biron’s contract expires. That doesn’t necessarily mean Talbot is earmarked for Biron’s job, it wouldn’t be too difficult to deal a cheap goalie if it came to that (although it’s still a good bet Biron will be gone after his current deal ends).
This also probably doesn’t speak well toward Scott Stajcer’s future with the franchise.
Ryan O’Reilly
Last week on Twitter I posed the simple question: Would you trade Derek Stepan straight up for Ryan O’Reilly? At the time it was just a hypothetical, but last night the Denver Post’s Adrian Dater reported that an O’Reilly trade is likely going to happen.
O’Reilly, of course, is the last of the three star RFAs to continue holding out into the season. Both Jamie Benn and P.K. Subban have been playing with their respective teams for weeks, but O’Reilly and the Avalanche appear to be no closer to a deal.
O’Reilly reportedly wants five-years, $25 million while Colorado, a notoriously stingy franchise, is unwilling to budge from its offers of two-years, $7 million or five-years, $17 million. There seems to be no resolution on the horizon and it’s become very possible that Colorado will trade its star 22-year-old centerman. Read more »
The Rangers blew a 3-0 lead, but Ryan Callahan saved a victory in the shootout
The Rangers choked away a 3-0 lead, but were still able to pick up their second win over Boston this season. New York dominated for much of the game, but foolishly sat back in the third period and the Bruins sealed a comeback with 2 goals in the final 1:31. An extremely entertaining overtime period followed before the Rangers entered their first shootout of the year. Rick Nash’s beautiful goal gave the Rangers a chance to seal the victory, but Brad Marchand rifled a gorgeous shot past Henrik Lundqvist to even the score. Lundqvist stopped David Krejci and then captain Ryan Callahan scored the game-winner by roofing a shot over Tuukka Rask.
It wasn’t a pretty win and the blown lead was miserable, but the Rangers still picked up their 4th win in the last 5 games. Unfortunately, they allowed the Bruins to earn a point in the process. It was the 19th time in 24 games between these 2 teams that the game was decided by just 1 goal.
First Period
Rangers 1, Bruins 0 Carl Hagelin (10:37)
This play was all Rick Nash. First, Nash forced a turnover in the Boston zone that led to a shot. Gregory Campbell was able to guide the puck out to center ice, but 3 Boston forwards went for a change and Dan Girardi quickly hit Nash charging down the middle. 2 defenders not named Zdeno Chara (Andrew Ference and Adam McQuaid) converged on Nash and even though Nash was tripped up by Ference, he was able to fling a backhand pass to a waiting Carl Hagelin for an easy deposit into an empty net. It was Hagelin’s 4th goal in his last 5 games after going goal-less for 36 straight. Read more »
- Justin Schultz has 4 goals on the season; Rangers defensemen have combined to score 4.
- All 4 of Schultz’s tallies have come on the power play; New York has 4 power play goals as a team. David Clarkson, Patrick Marleau and James Neal already have 5 power play tallies each.
- If you see a Southeast Division team on the schedule, you should feel pretty confident. New York went 15-3-2 against the Southeast last year and is 2-0-0 this season. (via @Mike_Rappaport)
- Carl Hagelin went goal-less for 36 games but has now scored 3 in his last 4 contests. Read more »
Taylor Pyatt has been the one exception to an almost universal rule
Countless factors go into individual player evaluations, but one quality continues to dictate how the Rangers construct their roster: speed.
It’s not exactly a new revelation, the altered NHL demands that players possess speed and skill as the league has phased out the plodding physical specimens that were impact players in the 1990s. But few franchises have put as strong an emphasis on skating ability as New York. Just look at three of the team’s most recent first-round picks: Chris Kreider, JT Miller and Brady Skjei. What do all have in common? Tremendous skating ability.
There’s simply no room on Broadway, especially under coach John Tortorella, for players that can’t outskate the opposition.
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The Rangers can’t afford to burn a year of JT Miller’s Entry Level deal
GM Glen Sather attempted to act swiftly to address the Rangers’ depth issue at forward last week, but after Jason Arnott failed his physical the team is still left searching for forwards. Acquiring bottom-six forward Benn Ferriero appears to have been a savvy move, but New York is still thin up front.
The free agent market is barren, so it’s likely that the Rangerswill need to recall another player from Connecticut at some point due to injury, suspension or some other unforeseen circumstances. Thus far, the Rangers have deployed Brandon Segal and Kris Newbury, both of who were immediately sent back to the Whale after one-game cameos with the big club. Neither impressed and coach John Tortorella didn’t seem to have any trust in them, so neither can be seen as anything more than an emergency stopgap solution.
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Taylor Pyatt has displayed impressive hockey sense in his first two games
A two game sample size is hardly enough to evaluate anyone, and clearly none of the Rangers played particularly well in the season’s opening weekend, but here are some initial impressions of the newest Blueshirts:
Rick Nash – As coach John Tortorella said following Sunday’s game, “he’s the real deal.” Nash has been an absolute puck magnet, has already displayed soft hands and creative stickhandling, is using his body extremely well to create separation between the puck and defenders and has even thrown a few solid hits. Nash understandably wants to make a good impression with his new club, but I’ve also been pleased to see that he’s continued competing very hard in both losing efforts.
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Tonight, the Rangers made a minor deal, sending AHLer Tommy Grant and a 2014 seventh-round draft choice to the San Jose Sharks for LW Brandon Mashinter.
Mashinter, 24, stands 6-foot-4, 230 lbs. He has posted two goals and three assists in 30 games this season with San Jose’s AHL affiliate, the Worcester Sharks. Last season, Mashinter tallied 16 goals and 17 assists in 65 games. He made a cameo in the NHL in 2010-2011, playing 13 point-less games and serving 17 penalty minutes.
Mashinter spends some time in the penalty box, having been in four fights this year and seven a season ago. He carries an NHL cap hit of $550k.
Grant, 26, signed with New York before last season and had nine goals and seven assists in 34 games with the Whale this year.
This is a pretty insignificant trade for the Rangers. Grant was not part of the team’s future plans and Mashinter won’t be either. However, he clearly offers size and a willingness to drop the gloves, which the Rangers like to have some of in the minors.
