Rangers Roundup: Upcoming schedule, Trade Deadline, and more praise for Gallant
The New York Rangers will return to practice tomorrow and get ready to take on the Boston Bruins four days later. Here is a quick look at the Rangers upcoming schedule at a glance:
- 2/15 vs Boston Bruins (26-15-3) 7 PM ET
- 2/17 vs Detroit Red Wings (20-21-6) 7 PM ET
- 2/20 @ Ottawa Senators (16-22-4) 5 PM ET
- 2/24 vs Washington Capitals (25-14-9) 7 PM ET
- 2/26 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (28-11-8) 3 PM ET
- 2/27 vs Vancouver Canucks (21-20-6) 7:30 PM ET
With six games to close out this month, four of them at home, the Blueshirts hope to keep pace with the first place Hurricanes. Carolina is up by a point in the standings with 8 games remaining to play in February.
New York Rangers trade deadline approach
Yesterday, I wrote about the Rangers best approach to take at the NHL Trade Deadline in March. I proposed two trades Chris Drury should make and why. Here’s a brief excerpt:
Trade 1: Vitali Kravtsov to Vegas for Reilly Smith
Reilly Smith has probably been on Gerard Gallant’s wish list from the beginning of the season. The 30 year-old is in the final year of his contract with a $5M AAV. He has 32 points in 45 games this season playing RW on the top two lines. Jack Eichel is reportedly about two weeks away from joining the lineup, so Vegas must shed cap space to fit him in. Vitali Kravtsov is more appealing than a first round pick because the Knights are in their Stanley Cup winning window. A young player still on his ELC is an attractive option.
Trade 2: 2022 First Round Pick to Seattle for Mark Giordano
The Rangers need a solid veteran partner for Braden Schneider. The 38 year-old Giordano checks all the boxes, as he can also step up into the top 4 with Jacob Trouba late in games to shutdown the opponent. Seattle is going to build from the draft and will be looking to stockpile first round picks. Drury’s window to win has just opened, so waiting for prospects to develop when he still has a whole pipeline full makes no sense. Giordano has 18 points in 40 games.
I added a third much bigger trade for Drury to execute if he wants to really go for it this season. Read the full story here.
Gallant gets more praise
Larry Brooks of the NY Post ran a feature on Gerard Gallant on Wednesday. It was about Gerard Gallant and his ability to take the team to the next level. Here are some key quotes by the players.
“With Turk, it’s never about what we can’t do. It’s always about what we can do if we put our minds to it. You don’t know what that means to a group.” – Chris Kreider
“It’s been different than what we’re used to in the past, for sure, but I also think that we have evolved as a team with that commitment and work ethic. I think that groundwork was laid the last few years. Guys come to work, guys are very dedicated and I think he realizes that he doesn’t have to push that button as much with our group because there’s other things to worry about.” – Ryan Strome
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The Montreal Canadiens have hired former NYR and Bolts star Martin St. Louis as interim coach. Read more.
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