After last night’s win that clinched a playoff berth, the Rangers called up forward Kris Newbury. This is likely due to the Ryane Clowe injury, as the power forward was injured in the game and did not return. The Rangers had no spare forwards (to the point where Matt Gilroy had to dress for a late-scratch of Arron Asham). Newbury will be with the club as long as both Clowe and Brian Boyle remain injured.
Earlier today, the Rangers announced that they have sent Kris Newbury back to the Connecticut Whale of the AHL. In his second stint with the Rangers this season, Newbury played in four games, collecting an assist, a +1 rating, 2 PIMs, and 4 hits while averaging a little more than 8 minutes of ice time.
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The Rangers were busy this weekend, waiving both Jeff Halpern and Stu Bickel and recalling Kris Newbury from Connecticut. The three moves are, for all intents and purposes, minor moves. But these moves triggered a wide variety of questioning, celebrating, and rumormongering. It was actually very interesting to read all of the speculation Twitter, which included the now famous “Gaborik for Boyle and Clowe” rumor, which is just outright ridiculous*.
*-If this happens, I’ll eat my words. I will also build a Glen Sather statue of him holding 29 “pictures.” These “pictures” will be symbolic of the 29 naked photos he must have of all other GMs, because no GM has this ability to turn spare parts into something substantial as often as he does.
But without speculating, let’s look at the three moves themselves, as each was made for a reason. The easiest one is the Newbury call up. Although we discussed how Newbury would be a replacement for Halpern and Bickel, the call up is most likely due to the recent J.T. Miller injury. I doubt he would have been recalled if not for this injury.
The Rangers have recalled center Kris Newbury from the Connecticut Whale. This is Newbury’s second stint with the Rangers this year. In his first call up, Newbury stayed for just one game, and finished with 7 PIMs. Newbury showed some great chemistry with Chris Kreider, putting together an impressive line of 1-8-9 while Kreider was with the Whale.
Newbury replaces the departed Jeff Halpern and Stu Bickel.
Kris Newbury was returned to Connecticut after last night’s 2-1 loss to the Flyers. In his one game cameo, Newbury played seven shifts for just five minutes of ice time. He also fought Tye McGinn and was charged an extra two minutes for roughing. This likely means that Chris Kreider will dress against the Leafs on Saturday.
Per Steve Zipay, Chris Kreider is skating after the optional morning skate, meaning he will likely be a scratch tonight against the Flyers. Kreider was skating with Arron Asham and Matt Gilroy, meaning these are the three likely scratches.
Also, after last night’s game Kris Newbury was recalled from the Whale, presumably to take Kreider’s spot for tonight’s game.
The Rangers have placed Sean Collins, Michael Haley, Chad Kolarik, Kris Newbury, Logan Pyett, Brendon Segal, Mike Vernace and Tommy Grant on waivers today. They will clear tomorrow, and some will join the club for the rest of minicamp before the NHL season starts. These moves likely address who will replace Arron Asham in the lineup on opening day, as he still needs to serve the final game of his four game suspension.
This was move #3 on the list of things to expect from the Rangers during minicamp. Move #4 may be adding a depth forward, as Suit discussed earlier this week.
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No matter how much we choose to ignore it, injuries happen to every NHL club. Players get banged up, nicked up, and bruised just like everyone else. It is one of the reasons why teams spend some time and money building their depth in the AHL, as these players can come to define a season. Some players, like Ryan McDonagh, can even make veterans expendable (see: Rozsival, Michal). Others enter in an attempt to shake things up (Carl Hagelin) or due to large numbers of injuries (Stu Bickel). Either way, AHL depth is often an overlooked quality for perennial contenders.
As the Rangers call up more players, their depth in the AHL diminishes slightly. Gone are the big effects of Hagelin and McDonagh. Even Bickel has parlayed his call up into a two-year deal. The Rangers already have a spare forward (Michael Haley) and a spare defenseman (Steve Eminger) on the roster, but the injury bug isn’t always that friendly. As multiple players go down, others will need to be brought up.
Naturally, the role the injured player has will affect the player called up, so let’s look at the strong possibilities to fill these important roles:
Entering the first day of free agency it was widely thought that the Rangers would seek to upgrade their offense and add a depth defender.
Instead, the Blueshirts added grit on July 1st while watching several of their own free agents depart for greener pastures.
Here’s what went down on Sunday.
Yesterday the Rangers announced that they had recalled nine six players from the Connecticut Whale of the AHL. The Whale were eliminated from Calder Cup contention last week, and the nine six players called up will serve as the “taxi squad.” As per Andrew Gross, they will practice separately from the current roster.
The players called up include:
G – Cameron Talbot
D – Tim Erixon, Dylan McIlrath
F – J.T. Miller, Casey Wellman, Kris Newbury, Chad Kolarik, Marek Hrivik, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault
