JYRI NIEMI REASSIGNED TO GREENVILLE
Defenseman has one assist in Eight Games for Whale this Season
HARTFORD, November 9, 2011: Connecticut Whale general manager Jim Schoenfeld announced today that the parent New York Rangers have reassigned defenseman Jyri Niemi from the Whale to its ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Road Warriors.
Niemi, a Finnish-born second-year pro, has skated in eight games for the Whale this season, registering one assist, four penalty minutes and a +1 rating. Last season with the Whale, Niemi chalked up three goals and six assists for nine points, along with 22 PIM, in 46 games. A third-round draft pick (72nd overall) by the New York Islanders in 2008 out of the Western Hockey League, Niemi was acquired by the Rangers from the Islanders May 25, 2010, in exchange for a sixth-round 2010 draft pick.
The Whale return to action this Saturday, November 12, in the first of back-to-back games in St. John’s, Newfoundland against the St. John’s IceCaps. Faceoff is 6:00 PM, and all the CT Whale Rockin’ Hockey action can be heard live on “The Rock”, 106.9 FM, WCCC, as well as on-line at www.ctwhale.com. The Whale’s next home game is coming up Friday, November 18, a GEICO Connecticut Cup battle with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the XL Center at 7:00
As expected, Sean Avery has cleared re-entry waivers, and will be able to join the Rangers during their practice tomorrow. It is unknown if he will be inserted into the lineup, as the Rangers played a complete 60 minutes last night in their 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks. The likely candidates to come out of the lineup are Erik Christensen, Wojtek Wolski, and recent call up Andre Deveaux. Considering the way both Christensen and Deveaux played last night, the front runner to sit if Avery dresses would be Wolski. As Suit pointed out in the comments of the recap, Wolski’s play without the puck wasn’t that strong, which may work against him.
Of course, there is a chance that Avery doesn’t even dress. Considering how well the team played, that is a legitimate possibility. Since Avery cleared re-entry waivers, his salary is added back to the books, with a 50% split between the Rangers and the Dallas Stars.
According to Larry Brooks via Twitter (his source was Bommer Esiason and Nick Kypreos), Sean Avery will be placed on re-entry waivers tomorrow, making him eligible for Thursday’s tilt against the Ducks.
Whether another team is interested in acquiring him is uncertain, but chances are Sather is giving the fans (well half of them anyway according to our polls) what they want for the time being.
For the other half of this fan base, all we can hope for now is that Torts and Sean can somehow get on the same page. Maybe Richards can be a middleman if issues arise? Who knows…
Sean has some skill no doubt, but his coach-ability has been questioned by every NHL coach he has ever played for. If this rumor is true, and he does end up back on the team, hopefully the relationship between Sean and Torts is somehow salvageable. I mean you would have to assume Torts gave the okay to Glen to make this move? Maybe, maybe not.
Either way, things are about to get interesting…
Get well soon Rupper 
In what is the third and likely final roster move today, the New York Rangers sent defenseman Tim Erixon back to the CT Whale of the AHL. Erixon was supposed to start the season in the AHL, but was called up after the injuries to Marc Staal and Mike Sauer. Erixon started strong, and has shown that he is a very capable defenseman, but he needs to play 20 minutes a game to hone his craft at the North American level. In nine games, Erixon did not register a point, and finished with six PIMs and a -2 rating.
There were no defensive call ups to replace Erixon, which means Jeff Woywitka will be in the lineup on Monday night.
The New York Rangers have called up forward Andre Deveaux from the Connecticut Whale. In nine games with the Whale this year, Deveaux has four goals, two assists, and 23 PIMs. This move is likely in response to some lingering affects of the Zenon Konopka hit on Artem Anisimov, a hit in which Anisimov landed awkwardly –face first– against the glass. Anisimov was not skating in practice today.
I missed the part where Kris Newbury was sent back to the Whale. So calling up Deveaux and sending down Newbury are the moves for the day, which eliminates the point I made about Anisimov being out of practice. In six games with the Rangers, Newbury did not register a point, but had 24 PIMs and a +2 rating.
The Rangers have sent defenseman Brendan Bell back to the CT Whale after a brief call up for the Western Canada run. Bell played in one game, and made one egregious mistake where he pinched too early, which led to an Edmonton goal. In his one game, he finished with no points and a -1 rating, coming from that error in judgement. The move, although unsurprising, might signal that Mike Sauer, out for about a month (including preseason) with a shoulder injury, might be ready to return to the lineup.
The press release is after the jump:
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The roster moves continue for the New York Rangers, as they have recalled defenseman Brendan Bell from the Connecticut Whale. This is likely due to the Mike Sauer shoulder injury, as he did not practice last week and did not play in last night’s loss to the New York Islanders. Bell was the last player assigned to the Whale after the trip to Europe, as the Rangers needed him around because of the injury bug that has plagued the blue line. In two games with the Whale, Bell has an assist and 12 PIMs.
It is likely that Bell will get a look on defense in place of Jeff Woywitka, who finished with a -1 rating and under 13 minutes of ice time in last night’s loss. He wasn’t noticeable in the game, which is not necessarily a negative. It looks like the coaching staff is going to go with a make shift defense until Sauer and Marc Staal get healthy.
Bell does not need to clear re-entry waivers, as he did not spend 40 games with an NHL club last season.
Following the New York Rangers 4-2 loss against the New York Islanders last night, the Blueshirts made two roster moves that are likely to shake things up among the fanbase and with the team. Mats Zuccarello was sent to the CT Whale, and Kris Newbury was called up to the NHL. Zuccarello had seen less than ten minutes of ice time in each of the first three games, and did not seem to impress the coaching staff (thus not earning more time). Meanwhile, Newbury has been the Whale’s best player through their first few games, and has certainly earned a call up.
Zuccarello’s waiver status gave him a short leash, so it is not surprising that he was sent down so quickly. Having played three games this season, Zuccarello had just 15 games remaining before he would have to clear waivers. Newbury will need to clear re-entry waivers before joining the Rangers, per article 50.9 of the CBA, whereby any player requiring regular waivers needs to clear re-entry waivers. If my understanding of that clause is unclear, then I believe he still needs to clear because he makes more than $95,000 in the AHL ($250,000), again per article 50.9 of the CBA.
Newbury does not need re-entry waivers, as he did not spend 40 games on an NHL roster last season.
The New York Rangers made a few roster moves upon returning from Europe, one of which was a necessity, and the other was expected. The necessary move was returning Scott Stajcer to the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL. The Rangers were allowed to carry a third emergency goalie while they were in Europe, but are no longer allowed to do so since returning to North America. Stajcer will play his overage season with Owen Sound before joining the Rangers organization.
The other move was the easily predicted move, as the Rangers also sent Brendan Bell to the Connecticut Whale. Bell was kept on the roster as an emergency defenseman because of the Marc Staal injury, and because the Rangers didn’t want to send him home prematurely, like they had to do with Stu Bickel. The acquisition of Jeff Woywitka made Bell’s demotion to the AHL a certainty. Woywitka will still serve as the healthy scratch for now, until someone plays their way out of the lineup.
There has been a flurry of activity the past 24 hours, so let’s quickly summarize everything in one post:
- Sean Avery was placed on waivers yesterday and cleared. He has been assigned to the CT Whale. There is no known timetable for him to report or for him to seek other options.
- Stu Bickel and Brendan Bell were placed on waivers yesterday as well. Both cleared, but will remain with the roster until further notice. This is similar to what the Rangers did with Todd White last season.
- Tim Erixon has been recalled. He will be at practice tomorrow and will play this weekend.
- To make room for Erixon, Marc Staal has been placed on IR. This is also a move to save a little bit of cap space while he deals with his post concussion symptoms. There is no timetable for his return.
Also, the forward lines for Friday appear to be set:
Brandon Dubinsky-Brad Richards-Marian Gaborik
Ruslan Fedotenko-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan
Wojtek Wolski-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello
Mike Rupp-Brian Boyle-Brandon Prust
The defense pairings are still relatively unknown, as Erixon has not arrived in Sweden yet.
