Igor Shesterkin and Henrik Lundqvist will split tonight’s game

Posted on July 29, 2020July 29, 2020 by Adam Rotter

10:02PM: Marc Staal will not return tonight. (NYR)

He played 11:08 and his last shift was as the second period expired.

8:19PM: Lundqvist replaced Shesterkin with 10:45 left in the second period, which coincided with the Islanders first goal.

5:46PM: Rangers have announced their lineup for tonight and Igor Shesterkin will start in goal against the Isles. (NYR)

The lineup also indicates that Henrik Lundqvist will play the second half of the game. (NYR)

David Quinn said earlier this week that Libor Hajek will be an extra on defense and Brendan Lemieux will be an extra at forward.

The Rangers lines are expected to be:

Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich
Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, Jesper Fast
Phil Di Giuseppe, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko
Greg McKegg, Brett Howden, Julien Gauthier
- Brendan Smith, Jacob Trouba
- Ryan Lindgren, Adam Fox
- Marc Staal, Tony DeAngelo

Artemi Panarin Rangers, Jesper Fast

Artemi Panarin named Team MVP and Jesper Fast wins Players’ Player Award for 5th time

Posted on July 29, 2020July 29, 2020 by Adam Rotter

The Rangers have announced that Artemi Panarin has been voted Team MVP by “members of the New York Rangers media.”

Panarin is a finalist for both the Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award.

Jesper Fast has won the Players’ Player award for the 5th straight season.

From the Rangers: “the Players’ Player Award has been given annually since the conclusion of the 1958-59 season and recognizes the Ranger who, as selected by his teammates, “best exemplifies what it means to be a team player.”

Fast is a free agent after this season.

2020 Return To Play

The official Rangers roster for the NHL’s return to play

Posted on July 26, 2020July 26, 2020 by Adam Rotter

The Rangers official roster for the NHL’s return to play is:

Forwards: Pavel Buchnevich, Filip Chytil, Phillip Di Giuseppe, Jesper Fast, Steven Fogarty, Julien Gauthier, Tim Gettinger, Brett Howden, Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Chris Kreider, Brendan Lemieux, Vinni Lettieri, Greg McKegg, Danny O’Regan, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, Mika Zibanejad

Defensemen: Brandon Crawley, Tony DeAngelo, Adam Fox, Libor Hajek, Ryan Lindgren, Darren Raddysh, Brendan Smith, Marc Staal, Jacob Trouba

Goaltenders: Alexandar Georgiev, Henrik Lundqvist, Igor Shesterkin

K’Andre Miller, who was with the Rangers at their training camp, is not eligible to play. Goalie Adam Huska is the only other player that was at training camp but not on the official roster.

The Rangers play the Islanders on Wednesday in an exhibition game and play Game 1 of their qualifying round series against Carolina on August 1.

Lias Andersson, Lias Andersson Trade Rumors

Lias Andersson to remain in Sweden (Updates)

Posted on July 25, 2020July 25, 2020 by Adam Rotter

7/25/20 | The Rangers have officially loaned Andersson back to HV71 for the 2020-21 season. (HV71, NY Post)

Andersson thanked the Rangers in a statement and said that he found his way “back to the game” last year with HV71. (HV71)

Andersson is an RFA after the season.

Adam Rotter: This was expected, especially after Andersson turned down their invitation to come to training camp and join them in Toronto, but until he is traded, his only path to the NHL is with the Rangers. Even after his this season ends and his contract expires, the Rangers would almost certainly still qualify him and keep his rights rather than cut him loose and let him sign somewhere else for free. If a trade doesn’t happen at this coming draft I think you would see the Rangers recall Andersson from his loan following the HV71 season, which would probably be in the middle of the next NHL season, and bring him to North America either as a showcase or one last chance to make an impact.

6/18/20 | 7:23PM: John Davidson told Brooks that Andersson told him that he wants to be a Ranger, the team respects his decision to remain in Sweden and that “down the road” they will discuss where it is “best” for Andersson to play next season (NY Post)

5:53PM: Larry Brooks tweets that Lias Andersson has informed the Rangers that he is turning down their invitation to join them for next month’s training camp and that he intends to remain an Sweden.

Brooks adds that Andersson intends to play next season in Sweden and that he “won’t be back with the Rangers.”

In a video posted earlier today, Rangers President John Davidson said this about the status of Andersson “we are still talking about it. The one thing I will say, when Lias went back last year he got himself healthy, he ended up playing in Sweden and played very well. The GM over there was in touch with Jeff Gorton all the time. The reports were terrific, the game tape, watching him play, he played very well, got lots of key ice time. We are in the middle of making that determination now: is it better to leave him there, continue for another year or is it better to bring him here and see where it goes. It’s a tough call but we will try to make the right call as we move forward.”

2020-21 is the last-year of Andersson’s entry-level deal.

Adam Rotter: There had been some hope, after allowing Andersson to play in Sweden and renewed talks between him and the Rangers, that Lias would return to North America for another crack at things, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. The Rangers remain in control of Andersson’s rights so he needs their permission to actually play in Sweden again, but having him sit does nothing. It remains most likely that Andersson is traded by the Rangers whenever the 2020 draft is held, either as part of a bigger deal to either move up or acquire a player, a one for one for another/similar prospect, a couple of second round picks or a convoluted conditional trade that could see the Rangers get a pick now and maybe another pick or two down the line depending on his performance. Of all of those options, I think Andersson being included as part of a bigger package to either use one of their picks to move up or as part of a bigger deal to acquire a winger is most likely. The Rangers are lucky that Filip Chytil is developing and that some other young players they picked or traded for have allowed them to overcome picking Andersson and push the rebuild forward. Andersson was supposed to be the future Captain and an anchor of who the Rangers were going to become, instead they will try to find some way to get value for him and move on.

2020 Return To Play

What David Quinn said after practice on Friday

Posted on July 24, 2020 by Adam Rotter

David Quinn met with the media on Friday after practice and said (NYR):

Have you been able to fix any worries you had before the pause, “I thought we got a little bit away from our D-Zone structure and pressuring pucks, not letting people come up the ice that easily, that is something we harped on and talked about. I really liked what we did today, I thought we took a big step forward today creating more of a game-like mentality, an August 1-mentality. Those were the things we thought we had to harp on when the season came to an abrupt halt.”
On a 5-game series vs 7-game series, “there is a little more urgency to all of this but I think that when you are in the playoffs, whether it be a 5-game or 7-game series, you better have heightened urgency for every game that you play. I think our approach will be putting ourselves to get off to a good start, you don’t have as much room for error but I don’t think the approach is much different.”
On what stood out in today’s scrimmage, “I just thought there was more physicality to the scrimmage, I liked our intentions, little things and faceoffs, hold-ups, line changes, there was more purpose and game-like feel to what we will have to do on the 1st, throughout the scrimmage. I liked our pace and how guys will have to approach it on the 1st and it was a good step forward for us.”
Was there anything you needed to learn from today’s scrimmage, “It was more about the plan and execution and getting the reps we needed and every day taking a closer step to what we are going to have to do on the 1st of August. It’s really that simple because, as we’ve alluded to, time is of the essence, we don’t have a lot of it, we have to take advantage of every practice physically and mentally and our guys did a good job of it today.”
On K’Andre Miller through this camp, “I think he has gotten more comfortable, you could see the nerves early on but he’s acclimated himself and played with an awful lot of confidence, kept things simple. You see the physical tools that he has, he’s a special physical specimen and a guy that understands what he is capable of doing. I love the fact that he didn’t try to do too much, he let the game come to him, he did a good job defending. I love the plays he was making in small areas, quick turnovers he made the right play, just a lot of good things from him over the last two weeks.”
On Jacob Trouba seeming more comfortable, “100%. He’s skating better, there is much more confidence in his game, I like his gap better, defending better. He’s doing a lot of things better. We had a couple of good conversations over the break, touched on taking some time to feel comfortable in a new environment, I think he puts a lot of pressure on himself. He wants to do well so badly, he wants to please his teammates, coaches, the organization and sometimes that can be a heavy burden. I think his best hockey is ahead of him.”
On his mindset with the roster, “I think it’s human nature when someone doesn’t’ do what they were doing before the break and someone is doing something better you automatically, instinctively say ‘we will put this guy there’ but when the dust settles, like I’ve said, we want to let people get a chance to get their feet under them and back to where they were before the break. Nothing has gotten to the point where I thought ‘oh, boy, we might have to change this’ we are getting closer and closer to establishing that we are going to be where we were before the break.”
On Brett Howden in the middle rather than the wing, “There really isn’t a lot of difference if we put Howden or McKegg in the middle, it’s just something we wanted to do. Howds is real good on faceoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if he struggles on draws that we put McKegg in the middle or if we feel it would be the right move. It’s not something I’m married to but it looks good so far.”
Are you nervous when the scrimmage is that physical, “a little bit, but you need to do it if you are going to have success and I thought guys were smart about being physical, a couple of times, especially, in the neutral zone, where Tony has a chance to step up and bury Kakko and he let up on him, Smitty stood up and Mika could have been hit pretty hard and Smitty let up. I think our guys were smart and understanding when guys were vulnerable that they weren’t going to play through to the point where someone could get hurt. I thought our guys did a good job of managing the situation.”

On Thursday he was asked about Vitali Kravtsov and said (NYR),

“I’ve liked his work ethic. In difficult circumstances he’s working really hard, not difficult circumstances but when you are with the extras it’s different. I think he’s really embraced the challenge, enjoying being here, learning a lot. I thought he earned the opportunity to skate with the big group today. His skill is obvious and like most highly skilled players have to learn, they have to learn how to play at the NHL level and apply that skill level at this level. I think he’s going through a bit of a learning curve but we like what we see.”

John Davidson

What John Davidson said on ESPN Radio

Posted on July 22, 2020 by Adam Rotter

Rangers President John Davidson was a guest on ESPN NY’s Bart and Hahn radio show and said:

On how the players will handle things in the bubble, “I couldn’t tell you how proud I am of the way our group has reacted just in case we were going to play, now we know we are going to play, how we’ve continued to go through the testing process, proven negative, everyone taking it very seriously. This is a good group, you try to monitor the group itself and who are the leaders, players who may be troublemakers or guys not in shape. We’ve got an A+ group here, I’m very proud of these guys. I think once we get there it will be a new world inside the bubble but the guys are very serious about this, a chance to play and get into the playoffs, we are excited as a group and very professional.
On the goaltending, “I like our group, all three have had a good camp. Coaches will have to make a serious decision regarding who will start game one. Shesterkin has had the net lately more so than the other two, communication is right on the top, everyone understands where we are, short series best-of-five, that thing can change so fast, you have to be ready. All three have worked their tails off and had exceptional camps and ready to go. If Shesterkin does play it will be a new experience for him. I look at Kakko and the way he came back from Finland, he looks like he aged 1-2 years, more mature looking, quicker stride, much more confidence than what he had before the pause started. We look for things like that. Once we get playing, the value of playing in something like this for young players can’t be duplicated anywhere. I’m thankful we have this opportunity to play Carolina, if we win we go into the playoffs. The experience factor, you can’t pay for it, it’s invaluable, that is a real good sign for us.
On Kakko and Shesterkin still being rookies but being more comfortable after the pause, “I think that if this was a regular season and we finished up and the players have their four months, it’s astonishing, when you see young players and what they can do with their bodies in the four months before the next season. A lot of times they look like different people. It’s a different situation but same amount of time and looking at them, they look different, it’s not a new experience for them. Not eye-opening that they are in this camp. Once the real games start we will see where it goes. This is going to be interesting, I don’t know if we will see 2-2 games that go to OT, 9-1 games. It’s so new and never been done but fascinating and exciting. Our group is really excited about this, a lot of energy from our head coach, Quinny has done a great job, these coaches have worked for weeks.”
On Panarin and NY, “he’s tough as nails mentally. He’s the nicest guy, has a smile all day long, will do anything you ask him to do. When it comes to mental toughness…he’s tough and competitive. If there was one guy out there, in our world of hockey, who can handle New York, and what it brings, it was him. He’s as tough as they come. Nothing bugs him, he says what is on his mind if he wants to and plays the game the right way every single night, teammates love the guy and fans, when you watch him play, there is a sparkle to him, a grin on his face. He looks like a guy that was almost born to play hockey for the New York Rangers.”
On Mika Zibanejad not being nominated for awards, “he will be in the future, he’s a very caring individual who has really worked with his craft, has a great relationship with the coaching staff, especially Quinny. He’s not a one dimensional player by any means, he’s good defensively because of how he works. He’s extremely fast for a big man. he’s got passing skills that are elite, a scoring touch that is super elite and when you start adding all this stuff up, along with how much he has worked to get himself to be a specimen physically, it’s helped everything translate into what could be greatness. He’s really found a home in New York. He’s a player, very much like Panarin, these two guys can score and make their temamates around them a whole lot better, make the PP gel. We are in a good spot when you have two A+ forwards on your squad at one time. That doens’t happen” very often and they are just getting into their prime.”
On David Quinn and Jeff Gorton and leadership and culture, “If you don’t have culture, I don’t think you have anything, I just don’t think it works. The players should run their own room, when I was in Columbus and we brought in John Tortorella, that was one thing he really worked with the players on. We were very young, had to find the right people and leadership and eventually the room became the players room. I’d through Chris Drury into the mix regarding the management end of things, with Jeff Gorton. They work really well together. Chris is a former player and a great player who has won all sorts of championships, he knows how to go about business and a large part of the development of the organization. There is really good chemistry, which I had to assess when I got here, and I really like it, I really like it. Every aspect of the group, coaches, management, training staff or the players and this is a tight group, it’s really good. It will change as you move along, players come and go and retire but if you have the culture cemented then you hand it off and keep going. That is what we are striving to do. I don’t think, I can sit here right now and say we are a championship team, we are working towards it and we’ve got to prove things but we really have some good pieces in place with this group to move forward.”
On the Rangers chances, “we are confident, really confident. A lot of times, coaches and players think about today and that is natural, management think about a bigger picture because that is their job. I know that before the pause we were playing very well, especially on the road, really good on the road. With that feeling of knowing that we are a good hockey club, can we become a great club, we will see but I know we have a lot more confidence today going into this thing than we had at the start of last season where there were a lot of unknowns. There wasn’t an Adam Fox or Ryan Lindgren on the blue line, we didn’t know how they were going to play or make the team. We didn’t know about Shesterkin, we knew Lundqvist and Georgiev and then you have players like Panarin pop in and he taeks off, Zibanejad was having the best year of his career. Jesper Fast is so valuable because of his ability to make everything work defensively, Ryan Strome we didn’t know if he would click with Panarin, but the coaching staff went through with it and boy, oh, boy it worked well. Kreider works will with ZIbanejad. Those were all question marks coming into the season and we’ve answered a lot of those, that makes us feel we are a pretty good hockey club. I think we are in a good spot. Carolina is good, they are fast, shoot from everywhere, experience being in the playoffs lately. It’s going to be a good experience for us.”

NYR News