Rangers opt to protect Kevin Rooney as protected lists released

By Anthony Scultore |

Jul 18, 2021

The Rangers have thrown a few people a curveball, except Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic who indicated that Kevin Rooney may be the 7th protected forward.

#NYR protection list: Buchnevich, Chytil, Kreider, Panarin, Rooney, Strome, Zibanejad, Hajek, Lindgren, Trouba, Georgiev.

Exposed: Blackwell, Gauthier, DeAngelo, Kinkaid.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 18, 2021

Rangers protect Kevin Rooney

The Blueshirts protected list was not much of a shocker; even protecting Rooney is understandable.

Earlier I anticipated Chris Drury may opt to protect newly acquired forward, Barclay Goodrow to prevent Seattle from being able to exclusively negotiate with him. Either the Rangers are about to announce his signing, or they are are not worried about Goodrow signing a deal with the Kraken before July 28th.

new york rangers rumors — Apr 18, 2021; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New York Rangers right wing Vitali Kravtsov (74) celebrates his goal with center Kevin Rooney (17) against New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (29) during the first period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Rooney has proven to be a valuable addition for the Rangers. He was signed along with Colin Blackwell to two-year deals for the purpose of meeting the qualifications for expansion. It turns out Rooney proved to be an excellent penalty killer and the now desired “glue” type player teams love on their 4th line.

This season Rooney scored 14 points in 54 games while averaging 12:21 of ice time. The 28 year-old also registered 110 hits and 35 blocks.