Rangers Week Ahead: NHL Trade Deadline overshadows on-ice action
New York Rangers fans will have one eye on their team for the next few days as the Blueshirts play three teams that, like them, are outside a playoff position – and the other on what moves general manager Chris Drury does or doesn’t make before the NHL Trade Deadline on Friday.
Drury shipped off his biggest chip, left wing Artemi Panarin, to the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 4. But he still has desirable pieces such as Team USA gold medal winner Vincent Trocheck, the biggest name on several trade lists.
Trocheck scored the shootout winner Saturday afternoon when the Rangers overcame an early two-goal deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 at Madison Square Garden.
If nothing else, that comeback win wiped away the sour taste of the Blueshirts’ first game after the Winter Olympics break, one that saw them blow a two-goal lead at home and lose 3-2 in overtime to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Other Rangers who could find themselves playing elsewhere before the end of the week (according to the numerous trade boards) are defenseman Braden Schneider and forward Brennan Othmann, who was sent down to AHL Hartford before the win against the Penguins.
The best news for the Rangers last week was the return of their two best players, goaltender Igor Shesterkin and defenseman Adam Fox. They were injured in the same game, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Jan. 5. Shesterkin played both games, allowing a total of five goals, while Fox was his usual workhorse self – he averaged more than 25 minutes in the two games and was on the ice for both of the Rangers’ two non-shootout goals against the Penguins.
While the trade deadline nears, the Rangers have three games this week – the first two at home, the other just across the Hudson River. The Columbus Blue Jackets will be desperate for points when they arrive at the Garden for a game on Monday night. Three nights later – and just hours before the deadline, the disappointing Toronto Maple Leafs make their first of two visits this month. Then it’s off to Newark for a nationally televised game against the New Jersey Devils, who enter the week above only the Rangers in both the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference standings.
Who’s Hot
Trocheck was the only Ranger to have points in both of last week’s games – and that doesn’t count his shootout winner. He also went 24-7 in the face-off circle, including 18-3 against the Penguins.
Who’s Not
It looks like the Rangers have given up on Othmann, their first-round pick (No. 16 overall) in 2021 – they sent him back to Hartford after claiming forward Tye Kartye from the Seattle Kraken. Kartye led the Rangers with six hits against Pittsburgh; Othmann likely won’t be back with the Rangers, although he doesn’t figure to bring back much in a trade.
Rangers lookahead this week includes …
Matchups with two of the NHL’s biggest disappointments this season sandwiched around the trade deadline.
Columbus Blue Jackets at Rangers (March 2, 7 p.m.; MSG/NHL Network)
The Jackets won 10 of 11 games under new coach Rick Bowness before the Olympic break to get back into the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, but back-to-back losses to the Boston Bruins (4-2) and New York Islanders (4-3 in overtime after leading 2-0 in the second period) damaged those aspirations – and made their visit to the Garden even bigger.
The Metropolitan Division rivals faced each other just once this season; the Rangers topped Columbus 2-1 in a shootout at Nationwide Arena back on Nov. 15 – back when it was the Rangers, not the Blue Jackets, who had legit playoff dreams. The Blueshirts are 5-1-0 in their past six games against the Jackets, though Columbus won 7-3 last March 9 in its most recent visit to the Garden.
Fox is an assist-a-game player against Columbus – 17 assists (plus one goal) in 17 career games. Shesterkin is 21-10-1 all-time against Columbus, including the shootout win. Charlie Coyle (11 goals in 33 games) is the only Columbus player with double figures against the Rangers. Bowness might start Jet Greaves against the Rangers; Elvis Merzlikins is 2-6-1 in nine career games against New York.
Toronto Maple Leafs at Rangers (March 5, 7 p.m., MSG)
For every Rangers fan disappointed about his or her favorite team’s season, there are a dozen or more Leafs fans furious about their team’s dreadful performance – one that’s all but certain to end Toronto’s run of nine straight playoff appearances. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Leafs play nine of 15 games this month on the road and come to the Garden one night after a game against the Devils in Newark.
However, the Leafs have had the Rangers’ number during the past couple of years. Toronto is 6-3-0 in its past nine games against the Rangers, including a 2-1 overtime win at Scotiabank Arena on Oct. 16. That includes four straight wins at the Garden, including two one-goal victories late last season.
Auston Matthews had the OT winner in October, giving him 11 goals and 24 points in 25 career games against the Rangers. But Toronto’s most prolific producer against New York is ex-Islander John Tavares, with 18 goals and 53 points in 61 games. New York captain J.T. Miller has done well against the Leafs with 15 goals and 32 points in 38 games.
Rangers at New Jersey Devils (March 7, 3 p.m., ABC)
Amazingly, the Rangers and their cross-river rivals are facing off for the first time this season; they’ll play the other two games of their season series at the Garden later this month.
You can be sure ABC didn’t think it would they’d have a game between two non-playoff teams when this one was scheduled for national television, but that’s the case. The Rangers have been a disappointment, but the Devils have completely collapsed after a fast start. New Jersey was 13-4-1 after a 3-2 shootout win against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 15; it enters this week 29-29-2 and is all but assured of an early summer vacation.
Jack Hughes may be an Olympic hero, but he’s been a villain to the Rangers and their fans throughout his career. The first player taken in the 2019 NHL Draft (former Ranger Kaapo Kakko went No. 2) has 16 goals and 28 points in 23 career games against the Rangers – including five goals and eight points in three meetings last season. He’s missed 21 games because of injuries — a big reason the Devils fell apart.
Fox has excellent career numbers (five goals, 24 points in 27 games). Shesterkin is 11-7-1 against New Jersey with a 2.80 goals-against average and .911 save percentage.
