October 16, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
Kris Newbury is not about to save the floundering Blueshirts’ offense, but after being a one-man scoring machine in Connecticut (posting a point on all but one of the Whale’s nine goals this season), Newbury earned a call-up and will get the chance to show his stuff in the NHL on the Rangers’ upcoming Western Canada swing.
The Rangers are looking for a spark, after starting 0-1-2 in their season, and losing by a score of 4-2 to the Isles last night. Discipline was a big issue for New York, as the Rangers were in the box for two of John Tavares’s three goals on the night. The team was not helped by what appeared to be a bad call on Brian Boyle at 10:47 of the second period with the Rangers already down a man. Boyle was called for delay of game for closing his hand on the puck, which replays show was not the case. At the time, the score of the game was 1-1 and the Rangers already had a man in the box. Tavares was able to score shortly after the Blueshirts’ first penalty ended, and the Rangers never recovered.
To be fair to the officiating crew, the Rangers were rightfully sent to the box almost twice as often as the Islanders. And frankly, this team just does not have sufficient offensive weapons to win when they spend so much time on the PK. Last night the offense was Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik and no one else. Yes, Brandon Prust put a goal past Evgeni Nabokov off a skate on a second period fluke goal, but secondary scoring was non-existent. It’s a problem that must be fixed for the Rangers to be competitive throughout the season.
On their first game in a week since returning from Europe, it was not a good result, but the Rangers now leave for Western Canada, to turn things around. Although Newbury will be with them, Mats Zuccarello will not. Zuccarello, who was re-assigned to Connecticut last night, has averaged just 8:25 minutes per game, posting only only shot and 2 penalty minutes in the three NHL games.
The Whale could use him, because without Newbury, the team offensively contains only Carl Hagelin as a consistent threat (John Mitchell and Andreas Thuresson have not gotten going yet this season). Hagelin, who is also a potential call up to the Rangers, scored two goals last night in the Whale’s 5-4 shootout loss to the baby Isles–Bridgeport Sound Tigers. One of those goals was a shorthanded beauty, in which Hagelin was hooked as he went in on netminder Kevin Poulin and still put it past Poulin as Hagelin fell to the ice. A highlight reel goal, which topped off an excellent night for the young rookie, who at the NHL level is expected to be a defensive forward (but then again, so was Ryan Callahan).
There has been plenty of work for the Whale special teams over the last two games. Sixteen penalties for both teams on Friday night and twelve last night. On each night, the Whale have given up a power play goal against, but have only registered Hagelin’s shortie and one PP goal on Friday. With the return of Zuccarello and the possible addition of Hagelin to the PP, it could get much more effective next weekend.
It was the third shootout in a row for Connecticut, and the second night in a row that the Whale had jumped out to a 2-0 lead, had the chance for a third goal, which was rebuffed, and then fell apart to lose on the last shooter in the shootout.
Discipline was the issue in Hartford as well as on the Island last night. Head Coach Ken Gernander complained of long shifts and penalties. Calling it “way beyond what I could tolerate,” shift length, frustration, and a player being able to control himself were all big issues. Gernander said that he wasn’t going to take it anymore, but what exactly that means was unclear from his statements. Although benching a player was a possibility, Gernander said he had no extra men and he was going to try other methods first.
Some thoughts on the game:
First, the XL Center was electric last night. In all the years I have been going up to Hartford, I have never seen it like this. Even on boy scout sleep over nights, when there were good crowds (and lots of young fans), it did not compare. It was opening night, which needs to be taken into account, but the atmosphere was tremendous as new marketing techniques seem to have generated some real interest.
Another interesting development is Jared Nightingale, who at age 29 has until now been a career minor league fighting defenseman. Well, apparently he can do things other than intimidate. On the top pairing with Wade Redden last night (and on Friday night too), he was very effective. Plus three last night, with two assists, Nightingale (a fan favorite) has been a real asset to the Whale this far this season. Don’t get too excited, he is on an AHL contract with no hope of a call-up to New York, but with the D in Connecticut a bit decimated (Tim Erixon is in New York because of Marc Staal’s concussion and Pavel Valentenko is having groin problems), Nightingale’s defensive blossoming has been very welcome.
Jyri Niemi, usually a defenseman (sort of), played on the wing last night with Scott Tanski and Kelsey Tessier. It was because Ryan Bourque is day to day with a “minor injury.” Bourque will be evaluated either today or Monday.
Brendan Bell had a bad game last night. While not shown on the box score (always be careful judging a game by this), Bell kicked in an own goal for the Bridgeport 3-2 go ahead goal, after he took an untimely penalty just after the Sound Tigers scored their first goal. Bell did score in the shootout, but he was clearly frustrated late in the game.
Goaltender Chad Johnson did not look good late in the game last night, and was even worse in the shootout. He started out strong, but once Bridgeport started to really come at him, and especially after Bell’s own goal, Johnson got weaker instead of stronger. Then he gave up several five hole goals in the shootout, and just did not shut the Sound Tigers down when he had to. Rangers’ assistant GM Jeff Gorton was in attendance last night, ostensibly to watch Newbury, but what Johnson showed last night must certainly have concerned him.
The next game for the Rangers is Tuesday against Vancouver in BC. For the Whale, its Friday night, at home, against Manchester.
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October 14, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
The Connecticut Whale made the trip to Albany tonight, and although they started the game very well, the tide turned in the second period, and the Whale eventually lost 3-2 in a shootout.
It was only the third game of the season, but its not too soon to make some observations. First, Kris Newbury, who had two assists tonight and has a point on every Connecticut goal this season, is the team’s offensive star. Although he is a borderline NHLer, Newbury excels at this level. At 18:46 of the first period, Newbury was on the power play with Jon Audy-Marchessault and Andre Deveaux when he let a wrist shot go toward the net. Deveaux was planted at the top of the crease and tipped it past the Devils netminder Keith Kinkaid for a 1-0 lead. Then at 7:23 of the second, Newbury made a beautiful cross-ice pass to Carl Hagelin who one-timed it past Kinkaid to take a 2-0 lead.
Albany started swarming after Chris McKelvie took an elbowing penalty about half way through the second period, and the Devils constant pressure led them to score two goals in 10 minutes, but Newbury was not on the ice for either of them.
One of the Whale’s problems is that beyond Newbury, the team has very little offense. When Deveaux and Audy-Marchessault are on the number one power play line, that’s not very encouraging. Carl Hagelin played very well tonight, and he may be a good forward to try with Newbury on the PP. Not only did he score a goal, but he was all over the ice on the penalty kill, and he was very strong on the puck at even strength. He can use his speed to create plays and seemed to have some chemistry with Newbury on even strength. It would be a good idea to try him in all situations, as he is developing by the period.
Audy-Machessault got a lot of ice time tonight, which is a mystery to me. He often gets knocked off the puck and unless he was behind the net, I don’t think I saw him make one pass all night. It makes him very easy to defend against, and the Devils seemed to have his number. Plus, when Audy-Marchessault set up in front of the net, he was almost always knocked over. I just don’t understand why he was out there so much, especially when the game was on the line.
The line of Scott Tanski/Kelsey Tessier/Tommy Grant looks like it could be a very effective one this season. Grant makes plays with his work along the boards, and Tessier is very good at getting the puck into the slot. Tonight we saw Tanski make some excellent plays along the boards too, and although it was his penalty that led to the tying goal, the trio has good chemistry and keeps getting better and better.
On defense, it was an up and down game. Brendan Bell and Jared Nightingale were the best pairing on the ice tonight, but frankly, there was no one that stood out positively. The worst moment of the night was when Tomas Kundratek just gave the puck away in his own zone for the Devils first goal. Although it was not always that bad, it wasn’t good either. By the third period, the defense was having terrible trouble headmanning the puck, and Chad Johnson was getting peppered with pucks from Albany.
Johnson had a fairly good night, but I noticed him going down early at times, and he was also shaky after the first period. Johnson should have had the puck on the Devils second goal and very late in the game, he mishandled the puck several times and then had to come up with excellent saves to get to overtime.
It is early in the season, and I expect Johnson to settle in and save many a game for the Whale. It will be a challenge though, because this team as it’s currently constituted does not have a lot of potential NHL talent. But if Redden and Valentenko return soon and Erixon is re-assigned when Staal returns to New York, things could change quickly in Connecticut.
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October 8, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
The Rangers opened their season yesterday, losing to the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in OT. The best part of the game for the Rangers was Ryan Callahan’s 11 shots and his first period goal. Today, New York also got beyond regulation, but wound up losing again–this time to the Anaheim Ducks, 2-1, in a shootout.
Both games were played in Sweden and native son Henrik Lundqvist was outstanding in goal. Today he all but stood on his head to keep the Rangers in the game, stopping 27 of 28 shots. Callahan also had a great game today, as did Michael Sauer on defense, who at one point lost his helmet and just continued to get in the way of every shot and opposing player that he could. There were times when Sauer was just putting on a clinic out there on the ice.
But the love ends there. The team did not look the same as it had in either training camp or the pre-season. In general the defense looked lackluster, with pairs not working well together, and the blueliners just letting the Ducks back them into their own zone. This could be the result of the upheaval that has been caused by the uncertainty about Marc Staal’s condition, but it’s pretty ugly out there.
There was a parade to the penalty box this afternoon, with the Rangers taking eight minors and one major (Mike Rupp trying to fight George Parros), and the offense looked anemic. Yes, Brad Richards roofed an amazing shot from in front of the net to tie the score with 2:15 left in the game, but otherwise, all the forwards but Callahan looked like they were playing at half speed. The Rangers are on their way back to North America tonight and have a week to straighten some of these matters out, but they sure do not look like a team ready to contend for what may be very important early points.
On the other hand, for the first 21 plus minutes tonight, the AHL Connecticut Whale looked like a Calder Cup contender. They scored three goals on Kris Newbury’s hat trick to jump out to a 3-1 lead in their season opener against Adirondack. But then, the Flyers’ AHL affiliate reeled off 5 straight goals, and the Whale’s night was done.
It was somewhat of a surprise that Cam Talbot started between the pipes tonight for the Whale, as Chad Johnson was expected to be the frontrunner for the number one netminder position. But Talbot was called upon, and at times looked very good. On many of the goals against, he had no chance, because of defensive lapses in front of him, but there were a couple of issues that clearly showed themselves tonight. First, Talbot has trouble handling the puck–twice he went behind the net to pass the puck to a defenseman and got himself in trouble. While it could have been a fluke, he looked very unsure of himself and perhaps should stay in net. The other issue that I saw was that he often went down too early, taking himself out of the play. This resulted in more than one Adirondack goal tonight and is clearly going to have to be worked on prior to any NHL appearance.
Besides Newbury, who did a nice job early on providing the finishing for the Whale, the Tommy Grant/Kelsey Tessier/Scott Tanski line had a very good night. Grant was hitting and grinding, and he was very effective in making room for Tessier and Tanski, who play very well together. Tessier had an excellent night on face-offs, and he and Tanski have developed some chemistry that has them on the ice when there is a need to be defensively responsible. It does look like they could also be an offensive threat, and hopefully we will be seeing more of them together in future games.
Most of the problems tonight occurred on defense, which needs quite a bit of work. Jyri Niemi had a bad game (despite being +1 for the game), Blake Parlett was up and down, and Wade Redden (who was -4 on the night) made some critical errors. Tomas Kundratek looked better than he did at Quinnipiac last weekend, has a very good shot, but needs more work positionally. Granted two blueliners were out due to injury (Pavel Valentenko and Stu Bickel), but most of the blueliners have been in the AHL before and need to do a better job out there.
Frankly, the player on the ice that impressed me most tonight was Adirondack’s Brayden Schenn, who was all over the ice, creating chances, making passes, picking his spots, and generally showing why he remains a top prospect in the game.
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October 6, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
First, there was spate of players on waivers, the reassignment of Tim Erixon to Connecticut, then Erixon’s recall, and today, there is the claim of Jeff Woywitka off the waiver wire. This has certainly been a whirlwind week for Rangers’ transactions.
With Avery reassigned to the Connecticut Whale, the Rangers cleared more than $1.9 million dollars of cap money on Tuesday. It was no secret that the Rangers were in need of a solid veteran blueliner, not too old and not too expensive, but they needed Avery’s money to have some choices. They were talking to a couple of free agents, but as Gordie Clark told me last weekend, he was watching the waiver wire like a hawk. Today, they found their man in Jeff Woywitka, the former Dallas Stars defenseman, who Montreal tried to reassign to Hamilton. At 28 years old, and with only a $650,000 hit in the NHL (Woywitka would have made $105,000 in Hamilton if he had gone unclaimed when Montreal had tried to reassign him to the AHL), he may just be what the Rangers were looking for as a seventh defenseman on what right now is a shaky D. Not flashy and positionally pretty good, Woywitka is not likely to lose games for his team, which right now is what the Blueshirts need.
It is very likely that Head Coach John Tortorella will feel more comfortable with Woywitka on the blueline than either Brendan Bell and Stu Bickel, who were smartly put on waivers in anticipation of reassignment earlier this week. Although later in the season, it is possible either or both of Bickel or Bell would have been claimed, early in the season when teams are set, but before injuries, it was a good time for Bell and Bickel to be exposed. Both went unclaimed and New York has 30 days within which to reassign them. It is not known when, as there is no word as to whether Woywitka will be flown over to Europe in time for this weekend’s games.
Of course, it is possible that the Rangers could reassign Erixon (again), but that is not likely to happen prior to the team’s return to North America. Erixon has already been to Europe, back to the United States, and then back to Europe, all in a span of a little over a week. It’s hard enough for a rookie to get ready for the start of the regular season traveling with the team and bonding, but to be bounced back and forth is not optimal. The Rangers know this, but they have no choice. Marc Staal’s treatment did not bring magic relief, and he is not near ready to begin the season. Put on the IR yesterday, Staal may be out for awhile and the Rangers are being really honest when they say that they don’t know when he will be back.
Somehow, the Rangers will have to play solid, basic defense and get the job done until then, but away from home, and then bouncing around in North America, this is not going to be an easy month. If they can win as much as they lose, consider it a successful October.
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October 4, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
At noon today, two things happened that affected the Rangers. First, it was announced that Dale Weise, who was reassigned to the AHL on Saturday, but had to pass through waivers to get there, was claimed by the Vancouver Canucks.
To be honest, I was somewhat surprised that he was reassigned to Connecticut last weekend. Weise had a good camp and did not look out of place on the ice with the Rangers fourth line in exhibition games. Yes, his fighting skills at this level are iffy, but if he stayed away from duking it out with the big guys and just agitated, played rough along the boards and went to the net, Weise can be effective. He has good hockey sense and can probably be a 10-15 goal per year player. Lots of character and leadership skills too. It’s a mystery to me why the Rangers did not keep him or at least package him with someone more attractive to get a good player–like a defenseman.
Instead of keeping Weise, the Rangers decided to stick with the veterans, Sean Avery and Erik Christensen. But it was a waste, as it is only three days later and today, the Blueshirts put Avery on waivers, signaling the likely end of his career in New York. Avery at times looked good in camp this fall, but he just does not have the speed or the release that he once had. And he is Avery, so no matter what he does, he does not get the benefit of the doubt on calls. This has hurt the team all along, but as long as he was doing more good than harm, his antics were worth putting up with. Not anymore. And when the Rangers combine that with the ability to clear $1,937.500 in salary (courtesy of CapGeek), it seems like waiving Avery is a no brainer.
Rumor also has it that defensemen Stu Bickel and Brendan Bell were also placed on waivers by the Rangers today. Not confirmed, but this would smack of a deal for a blueliner in the works. The Rangers, who are desperate to solidify their D, need a veteran blueliner (aged 26-33) who can average 16-20 minutes on the ice per night–and need to obtain him either by trade or off the waiver wire as soon as possible. Expect this to happen over the next day or two, as the beginning of the season is just three days away.
It does appear that Mike Sauer will return for opening day/night on Friday, but Marc Staal is still out, with no timetable for his return (today it was announced that he will not be making the trip to Europe). The team has its work cut out for it, as with the return of Sauer, there will only be three solid, reliable D-men available for opening night.
Stay tuned for more moves as they should be coming within the next 2-3 days.
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October 1, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
This morning the Rangers announced what is (almost) their last roster cut. Although there were a couple of surprises, and probably none of those that were cut are happy on their way home, there was a chance that had the bulk of them not been sent to Connecticut, the Whale might have gone winless this entire season.
The Rangers announced the reassignment of eight players this morning, including Ryan Bourque, Carl Hagelin, John Mitchell, Kris Newbury, Dale Weise, Tim Erixon and Blake Parlett to Connecticut, and Dylan McIlrath, who has been assigned to Moose Jaw of the WHL.
Weise, Newbury, and Mitchell will have to go through waivers. The reassignments of Weise and Hagelin are somewhat of a surprise, as each probably outplayed Sean Avery for a spot on the NHL team. Weise could easily be picked up by another team, and although that might be the best for him (give the young right winger, who could play on the third or fourth line, a chance with another organization), it would be a needless loss to the Rangers.
Hagelin, who is older than most of the Rangers’ rookie professionals, could play on the penalty kill in the NHL right now. With his speed and stickwork, its somewhat of a surprise that the Rangers kept Erik Christensen and Avery over Hagelin, but he should be one of the first call ups during the season, or even sooner, should a deal take place.
The other surprise is Erixon, who had a real shot at making the team, but has not played very well over the last two weeks. With the Rangers’ defensive woes, it was thought that he would stay longer, but there appears to be hope that Marc Staal’s problem is in his neck and the treatment he has received has corrected the problem. Mike Sauer is day-to-day and, although he will miss tomorrow’s game, he should be ready for the season opener.
Without Newbury, Mitchell, Bourque, Weise and Hagelin, the Connecticut Whale’s offense was anemic last night. And without Pavel Valentenko and Erixon, the blueline was pretty ineffective. The addition of these players will make the Whale competitive, and give Bourque, Hagelin, and Erixon excellent professional experience.
As for a report on the Rangers’ prospects that did play at Quinnipiac University last night, where the Worcester Sharks defeated the Whale 2-1 on two second-period goals, Chad Johnson looked pretty good.
He did let in the two goals, but one was a fluke, and the other, he got no help from his D. Johnson has been kicking his rebounds out better, but he still can get caught going down to early, giving the shooter too much of the net to look at. Generally, he is progressing, and hopefully, he will get to play regularly in the AHL to see whether he is a prospect that the Rangers should sign for a longer term.
Andre Deveaux had one excellent fight and was generally intimidating all over the ice, having a very good game, when just about 3 minutes before the game ended, in a one goal game, he went after a Worcester player who stood no more than five foot nine and tried to take his head off. Deveaux looked like he missed, but got a penalty anyway, which killed the chances of Connecticut coming back to tie the game. It was an undisciplined move and one that he has to eliminate from his game if Deveaux wants a promotion.
Neither Jyri Niemi nor Tomas Kundratek had their best game, but Lee Baldwin has been looking better than last season. Baldwin is big, as the size to be aggressive, and when he plays that way, he is very effective.
Andreas Thuresson, who was one of the Rangers’ best players last week against Philadelphia, showed several times that kind of play was not going to be a one-shot deal, but he needs more skilled forwards as linemates to really be effective.
Tomorrow, it will be back to the Hartford area for another pre-season Whale game. If you are in the area, it will be a good opportunity to see some of the Rangers prospects for just $5.
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September 28, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
Yesterday, Hockey’s Future published the Fall Top 20 of Rangers’ prospects (find it here: http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/13249/erixon_and_miller_join_a_talented_group_of_prospects_for_the_new_york_rangers/), and I noticed that there has been very little discussion of it. So, I wonder are we all basically in agreement or am I so far off base in everyone’s mind, they are not even bothering to comment.
The blog gives me the opportunity for some explanations, so I thought with a slow news day, I would throw a few thoughts out there.
First, Ryan McDonagh and Mats Zuccarello are prospects by HF’s standards, so even though they have played quite a few game sin the NHL, they remain eligible for the list. The will remain eligible until they each have appeared in 65 NHL games.
I struggled with several of the top players. In my mind, Kreider is hands down the organization’s number one prospect. After Kreider though, things are wide open. Thomas is ranked number two, because he has first line potential, but he is far from a certainty in that role. At this point, he can be anywhere from an elite player to a minor leaguer. But after Kreider, Thomas has the highest upside in the organization, which is why he is ranked second.
Tim Erixon is ranked third, but really Erixon may not turn out to be as much of an asset on defense as McDonagh is. McDonagh is two years older though, and Erixon, at 20, has already played three years of SEL hockey very successfully. So, I went with Erixon over McDonagh. It’s really hard to tell at this point though which of these two will be more successful in the NHL. Add in McIlrath and the Rangers future on D looks tremendous. I was a little skeptical of this pick in the summer of 2010, and maybe more so after last Fall, but McIlrath has grown in his game so much over the past year, its almost scary. We have Dylan rated this year as a 7.0C (which is why he is ranked sixth), but that might actually be a bit low at this point. McIlrath may really be a 7.5, which would put him in the McDonagh and Erixon category. To say that I have been impressed with McIlrath’s growth would be an understatement. He still makes lots and lots of mistakes, and is not ready for NHL play, but its the growth that really is astounding. What a luxury, to try to decide which of these three deserve to be called the top defensive prospect in the organization.
I have also been very impressed with the play of JT Miller since he was drafted. From what I heard, he was one of the better players on the ice this summer in Lake Placid, then he had an excellent Traverse City, and was impressive in training camp. He has done everything right, and, if he continues on this trajectory, he will be spending only one season in the CHL before he plays in Connecticut. He could be a pro shortly after his 19th birthday, and the Rangers have not seen this from a first round pick in a long time.
Moving quickly up the list was Jesper Fasth, who put on a show in development camp this summer. Great hands, hockey sense, combined with speed was what we saw over and over again from Fasth. I see him as a second line winger, about two years away from NHL play. The question is whether there will be room for him, but he’s the kind of player, you make room for–he’s that good.
Andrew Yogan also made a big leap on the list, and I have to say that my eyes widened at times watching him play. I love his size and the physical game he has started to play. Going to the net, with a nice shot and good hands, Yogan is impressive. Now in Peterborough for an overage OHL season, he is a Rangers prospect to watch, because he could be a perfect power forward on the second line in years to come.
Ryan Bourque is a player that I am very uneasy about. Will he find a place on this team? On the positive side, I see a little of Ryan Callahan’s effort and more offensive upside than Callahan. But on the downside, I am not sure that the body will hold up under the type of game Bourque plays. We will have to see with him, but Bourque deserves his spot in the top 10 of the organization.
Some other notes:
1. Hockey’s Future requires its writers to rank each organization’s 2011 draft picks according to the order in which a player is drafted. This required me to put Shane McColgan beneath Steven Fogarty and Michael St. Croix, but I honestly would have him ranked higher than either of the other two if I had my choice. He had a great development camp, an exemplary Traverse City, and a very good main camp. In my mind, McColgan is about 15 on the list and trending upward.
2. Honorable mentions go to Danny Hobbs, who had a very good season at UMass during 2010-11 and is returning for his senior season as captain of the Minuteman. And Blake Parlett, a free agent signing last May, who is beginning his second professional season. Currently sidelined with a knee injury, Parlett was very steady and mature on the ice before he suffered the injury at the Traverse City rookie tournament.
3. Mikael Pashnin was dropped off the list, because instead of signing with the Rangers for the 2011-12 season, he decided to continue playing in Russia. It is not clear when he is coming over to North America to play hockey.
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September 27, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
A portion of the Rangers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers last night, by the score of 5-3. I say a portion, because most of the big Rangers’ guns were sitting in the press box, relaxing and waiting for last night’s plane to Europe. The defense was out there, but only a small group of the Blueshirts’ offensive core were on the ice.
Brandon Dubinsky was out there, as was Brian Boyle and Artem Anisimov, but the rest of the forwards were all players that are trying to crack the roster. Hopefuls Andreas Thuresson and John Mitchell scored for the Blueshirts, as did Boyle, and several other Ranger forwards stood out positively.
First is Sean Avery, who continues to surprise. He still has a very quick release and a good shot. He made the play that led to Thuresson’s goal. He also drew a penalty by goading Wayne Simmonds, but then refusing to drop the gloves. He still goes too far, as evidenced by Avery’s uncalled for unsportsmanlike conduct penalty early in the second period (which was at least in part responsible for a Flyers goal). In total though, at this point, Avery’s upside is more valuable than his downside, but to honest, the balance is starting to tip, and he is dangerously close to being more of a problem than an asset.
I really liked some of Erik Christensen’s play, particularly on the rush, and I felt that prospect Carl Hagelin had the best showing of any time he has been on the ice since camp started. This was also Mats Zuccarello’s best showing this season. Finally playing a more compact game for most of the tilt, Zuccarello was much more effective than when he tries to do too much.
Bubble player Dale Weise, who I like very much, continues to baffle me. Weise has a lot of the skills needed to be a third line winger, but he can’t seem to finish very well. And while he is tough, he is not a very effective fighter. He does not back down, which is great, but it is rare for him to win a battle with anyone he has fought at this level. Last night was not exception, when he was clobbered in a bout with Phillie’s Zac Rinaldo.
As far as the defense goes, things are very tenuous for the Rangers on the blueline, even before last night, and then Mike Sauer, who was slammed into the boards on an ugly play early in the first period, went down with a shoulder injury. According to the Rangers, preliminary reports indicated Sauer will be out about seven days. Both Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh looked good last night, but Michael Del Zotto had up and prospect Tim Erixon had up and down games. Stu Bickel, who played the tough guy defense role last night, did not look to be very good defensively, and at times was a real liability on the ice. Another blueliner is needed, preferably right away, which is going to really take some manipulation of the salary cap to afford. So, movement is definitely in the works, its just a matter of how soon the Rangers pull the trigger.
Speaking of movement, almost immediately post-game, the Rangers announced that forwards Andre Deveaux and Thuresson were being returned to Connecticut and would not be on the Europe trip. That decision had to have been made before the game, because Thuresson, at least, had an excellent game last night. I felt that he deserved a further look, but this weekend he will be playing at Quinnipiac and Cromwell, instead of in Europe. There are several forwards that will be ahead of him as far as call-ups later this season will go, but Thuresson is someone to keep your eye on, because he may just wind up being an NHLer yet.
Deveaux is almost NHL ready, but going back to Connecticut won’t hurt his chances of becoming an NHL tough guy later on.
The Rangers play their first game in Prague on Thursday, which will not be televised.
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September 25, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
Yesterday the Rangers reassigned 28 players, including 21 to the AHL Connecticut Whale and seven to their CHL teams.
Most of these were expected, but there were a couple of surprises. First, that Pavel Valentenko was sent down to the AHL. Its a surprise because he has to pass through waivers to get reassigned. In other words, he could be claimed by another NHL team. To add to this mystery, tonight there is an interview with Valentenko that was done earlier today by Bruce Berlet, in which Valentenko says that he was injured Friday night and that he did not tell the coaches about his injury. It can be found here http://howlings.net/2011/09/25/whale-camp-day-two-first-cuts-arrive-valentenko-speaks/ and is worth a listen.
In the interview, Valentenko also states that he wants to play in North America, which may dispel the speculation that Valentenko would return to Russia, rather than play in Connecticut. He obviously has reported to Connecticut, which is where he was interviewed. Whether the speculation is true or not, very frankly I hate to see this stuff disseminated to the public. Its hard to take it back once its out there, and its unfair to the player and the team.
What is clear here is only that Valentenko just did not have a good enough camp to impress the Rangers enough to keep him with the NHL team; this, even though the Rangers are unsure of Marc Staal’s status to start the season. Plus, they are taking Dylan McIlrath to Europe, even though John Tortorella admitted today that he is not NHL-ready. Now Valentenko is exposed to waivers, which cannot be good for his future as a Rangers prospect.
The other surprising thing about the reassignments was that Andrew Yogan was sent back to the OHL, to Peterborough, without spending any time in Connecticut’s AHL camp. Yogan is a good prospect, who was impressive in the few games he played with the Whale last season, so it is surprising that he did not get another chance at least in the pre-season at that level. Not sure what the reason is, but I will try to find out over the coming days.
More information was reported today out of training camp about Staal’s injury. According to the Rangers, Staal will not be on the plane to Europe that leaves after the game tomorrow evening. He was on the ice skating this morning, and Tortorella says he is hopeful that Staal will be ready for the opening of the season, but he is not ready now.
Finally, the media was given the active roster for tomorrow night’s game, which will be Lundqvist and Biron in goal, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto, Michael Sauer, Tim Erixon, and Stu Bickel on defense. The forwards will be Sean Avery, Brandon Dubinsky, Brian Boyle, Dale Weise, Andre Deveaux, John Mitchell, Mats Zuccarello, Eric Christensen, Artem Anisimov, Andreas Thuresson, Ryan Bourque, and Wojtek Wolski (thanks to Steve Zipay for this info). Significant to me on this list is the omission of Carl Hagelin, who is also fighting for a roster spot. According to Zipay, the Rangers will cut two forwards after tomorrow’s game (and before the flight). My best guess is that the two that will be cut are on the list above, and that Hagelin will be on the plane.
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September 24, 2011 | Posted by Leslie Treff
This morning the Rangers announced their first round of cuts, 28 players reassigned, and there are several inclusions and omissions that are significant. First, the names of the reassigned players:
Assigned to the Connecticut Whale are: goaltenders Chad Johnson, Jason Missiaen and Cameron Talbot; defensemen Lee Baldwin, Collin Bowman, Sam Klassen, Tomas Kundratek, Jyri Niemi, Jared Nightingale, and Pavel Valentenko; forwards Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, Tommy Grant, Jordan Hickmott, Tayler Jordan, Kale Kerbashian, Chad Kolarik, Chris McKelvie, Matt Rust, Scott Tanski, Kelsey Tessier, and Jason Wilson.
Seven players were also returned to their CHL clubs: defensemen Peter Ceresnak (Peterborough, OHL) and Samuel Noreau (Baie-Comeau, QMJHL); and forwards Shane McColgan (Kelowna, WHL), J.T. Miller (Plymouth, OHL), Michael St. Croix (Edmonton, WHL), Christian Thomas (Oshawa, OHL), and Andrew Yogan (Peterborough, OHL).
Not reassigned among the group that can be considered prospects are Ryan Bourque, Tim Erixon, Dylan McIlrath, Carl Hagelin, Dale Weise and Scott Stajcer. Of the six prospects that remain with the NHL team, five earned a further look, Bourque perhaps being saved by his play in yesterday’s prospects game. The sixth, Stajcer, is in a funny position. After being injured last season and requiring surgery, Stajcer lost a year of development. He is eligible to return to juniors for an overage year, but his old team, the Owen Sound Attack already have enough goalies. Stajcer won’t get enough playing time on that team, even if they took him back. The AHL team already has Johnson and Talbot, who will battle it out for the number one spot (Talbot had a fantastic game on Wednesday night). Missiaen will in all likelihood play in the ECHL. So where does Stajcer go? If he plays in the ECHL, a year of his entry level contract is used, for no good reason. So, the Rangers are probably scrambling to find him an OHL team on which he can play. In the meantime, he will remain with the NHL team.
The surprises among the names being reassigned were the inclusion of Stu Bickel, Andreas Thuresson, Andre Deveaux, Tomas Kundratek and especially of Pavel Valentenko. It looks like Valentenko’s uninspired play last night (and in fact during scrimmages) sealed his fate. In all likelihood, this reassignment has ended the possibility of his becoming a Ranger (waivers opens today, and to be reassigned or eventually recalled, Valentenko will have to clear it). Bickel and Deveaux will fight for the tough guy role, of which there is room for only one. Thuresson is somewhat of a mystery, but he is a Swede, who is considered an AHL veteran. We could speculate that both these things affect his status with the big club right now, but its all just speculation and I am not sure that an answer is quickly forthcoming.
Oh, and don’t be surprised if there are not a couple more cuts before the trip to Europe. I doubt that the Rangers will take all these players along.
More later, when I will be recapping the camps of the significant players that were cut and the battle for the third and fourth lines at the NHL level.
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