According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the Rangers are recalling forward Vinni Lettieri before tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins.

The 24-year-old forward has had a couple of stints with the Rangers during his short career but has not been able to “stick” with the Blueshirts. Perhaps trading Cody McLeod gives him the chance to show his value in the lineup.

UPDATE: Rangers make it official

According to multiple reports from NHL insiders, the Rangers have traded veteran forward Cody McLeod to the Nashville Predators in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.

The 34-year-old native of Manitoba was originally claimed off of waivers from the Predators back in January 2018, and was then re-signed during the summer of 2018. In 56 games with the Blueshirts, McLeod registered three points (G, 2A) and had a plus/minus rating of -21.

UPDATE: Rangers Make It Official

The Rangers entered tonight’s contest having dropped their last four games, including three blowouts against Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Arizona. And in their first game at MSG since the aforementioned game against Pittsburgh, the Blueshirts would lose in one of the more horrid ways the writer has ever seen. Josh Bailey one-timed the pass from Cal Clutterbuck with 1:26 remaining in the third period, which was the only shot in the final frame for the Islanders.

Ryan Strome – The game started off with Cody McLeod stirring things up with Matt Martin and Ross Johnston in the opening moments of the game, with the latter getting a penalty for his actions. And on the ensuing Rangers man-advantage, the Blueshirts capitalized thanks to Ryan Strome finishing off a great pass from Jimmy Vesey to give David Quinn’s team the early lead.

Kevin Shattenkirk – The New Rochelle native played a solid game in front of his hometown fans. Shattenkirk registered six shots on net, had two hits, three blocks, and three takeaways, and got the game tied at two with this snipe just inside the far post. It’s been a tough season for Shattenkirk, but this was one of the better games he has played since joining the Blueshirts in the summer of 2017.

Jesper Fast – Perhaps the hardest working Ranger, Jesper Fast doesn’t always end up on the scoresheet. However, in this game, it was Fast that knotted the game at three with this fantastic goal from the top of the crease. After Pavel Buchnevich had his shot deflect up into the air, Fast battled for position in front and was able to take a baseball swing at the puck and put it into the back of the net. Fast has now scored in consecutive games for the Blueshirts, as he continues to show his work ethic night after night.

Neal Pionk – It was not a good night for the rookie Rangers defenseman. Pionk made an errant breakout pass that was intercepted by Johnny Boychuk and fed to Mat Barzal for the first Islanders goal. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Pionk got himself turned around when Cal Clutterbuck passed the puck to Josh Bailey for the game-winning goal with less than 90 seconds remaining in regulation. Pionk, who started the season with such aplomb has struggled in the last few weeks. Perhaps a trip to the “Quinn Bin” will help Pionk get himself refocused for the second half of the season.

Next Game: The Rangers will face the Islanders on Saturday afternoon at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Puck drops at 1!

LETS GO RANGERS!

Fresh off of a stunning OT loss versus Columbus, the New York Rangers stormed into Bridgestone Arena hungry for a win, and that they did.

On the strength of two Jesper Fast goals, stellar defensive plays along with Henrik Lundqvist’s superb performance, as usual, the Rangers stunned the Predators for their first road regulation win 4-3.

Jesper Fast and Cody McLeod Making A Mark: After missing a few games, Jesper Fast returned to the lineup in style by scoring two goals, one in the second and one in the third, both off of beautiful feeds from Mika Zibanejad. Fast, along with Kreider and Zibanejad did most of the heavy lifting tonight by putting up a combined 10 points all together, with all three linemates having at least three-point games. Additionally, this game signaled the return of Cody McLeod. Although he did not register a point, his physical presence and strong body checking along with solid defensive play led to the team as a whole playing more physically, which led to a bump in overall play. Not to be forgotten, Marc Staal also tallied a goal after a strong defensive play in his own end, that led to an odd man rush.

Henrik Lundqvist, One More Time: 34 saves on 37 shots, Henrik Lundqvist turned in a beautiful performance against an offensively stacked Predators team. Acrobatic as always, Lundqvist made a number of strong saves, including one with him lunging out with his blocker and stick to rob a strong charge against him.

Strong Team Effort: The Rangers played up-tempo hockey all night, as well as slowing down an incredibly potent Predators team. Outside of a few goals scored off of some mistakes and penalties, the Rangers played a strong defensive game, which led to many of the offensive chances that won it for New York. By slowing down the Predators in the neutral zone and stuffing them in the defensive zone, the Rangers were able to counter attack with speed and strike when needed. Marc Staal’s goal and Jesper Fast’s second goal are evident of this, as both plays were started by a strong defensive effort prior to both goals.

Next Game: The Rangers end 2018 on Monday night we in St. Louis against the Blues. Puck drops at 7.

LETS GO RANGERS!!

Buchnevich and Zuccarello Returning – Both Pavel Buchnevich and Mats Zuccarello, two players that the Rangers relied upon for offense entering the season, should be getting back into game action against the Coyotes. Buchnevich went out of the lineup after sustaining a broken thumb against the Blue Jackets, while Zuccarello has been dealing with a nagging groin injury. Zuccarello did play in two games after first going out with his injury, but rushed himself back which only made his injury worse. Both players participated in regular line rushes, as well as practicing with the top power-play units.

Andersson Out – It would appear from today’s practice that forward Lias Andersson is the proverbial “odd-man-out” with the Rangers’ forward group returning to almost full health. Andersson has been decent in his time with the Blueshirts so far, though he has played mostly on the fourth line under David Quinn. 

McLeod Remains Sidelined – After sustaining a hand injury against the Islanders a few weeks ago,  Cody McLeod remains on the injury report as he works his way back. Unfortunately for McLeod, Matt Beleskey has come into David Quinn’s lineup and performed admirably. Both McLeod and Beleskey play a similar style of game so it will be interesting to see how Jeff Gorton, David Quinn, and the Rangers decide to play this one out when McLeod is back to full health.

After nearly a week of no games, the Rangers headed to Florida to take on the Panthers. And like all of their previous road wins, this one went to a shootout. But unlike their last game on Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets, the Blueshirts were victorious.

Mika Zibanejad – The Rangers center got the Blueshirts on the board in the first period. After Kevin Hayes’ point shot hit Jimmy Vesey in front, the puck laid on the ice for Mika to put into the Florida net. The goal was Zibanejad’s ninth of the season, as the Swede continues to prove his value to the Rangers.

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Vladislav Namestnikov – After missing the last handful of games with a concussion, forward Vlad Namestnikov got himself back on the scoresheet late in the first period. With the Blueshirts shorthanded, Kevin Hayes did some great work and found Namestnikov cutting to the front of the net. Namestnikov corralled the pass and beat Luongo for his third of the season. Prior to his injury, with Mats Zuccarello our of the lineup, #90 had been seeing first line minutes alongside the aforementioned Mika Zibanejad. Whether or not he returns to that role remains to be seen, but Namestnikov definitely had an impact in this one.

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Matt Beleskey – When Beleskey was called up in the wake of Cody McLeod’s injury, the hope was that the 30-year-old forward would provide a spark to David Quinn’s lineup. And while he has certainly does that physically, Beleskey got on the scoresheet tonight with his first as a Ranger. After Tony DeAngelo worked the puck to Brady Skjei, the point shot from the defenseman was deftly redirected in front by Beleskey. The goal was the first for Beleskey since the 2016-17 season while he was with the Boston Bruins.

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Fredrik Claesson – The veteran defenseman has been a model of consistency when he’s been in the lineup for the Rangers. And tonight, with the game tied at 3, Claesson beat Roberto Luongo with a laser over the netminder’s glove to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead. Claesson’s goal was his second of the season as the defenseman continued his solid play in tonight’s victory.

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Henrik Lundqvist – Though he’d probably want the first two goals back, when the Rangers needed him, King Henrik came up big. The Panthers controlled the puck during most of the extra frame, but they were unable to beat Lundqvist, who made this spectacular save on Mike Matheson late in overtime. The win was the 441st of his storied career as King Henrik continues to make his case for the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Too Close For Comfort – Despite winning tonight’s game, the Rangers were unable to close out their opponent in the third period. This has become a theme for the Rangers this season, as far too many games have gone to extra time. The Blueshirts have a goal differential that is towards the bottom of the league and being able to defend leads late in the game will need to be worked on by David Quinn and the Blueshirts.

Next Game: The Rangers will try and sweep their Florida trip when they face the Lightning on Monday night in Tampa. Puck drops at 730!

LETS GO RANGERS!!

The Rangers have announced that they have recalled forward Matt Beleskey from the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The veteran forward was acquired by the Rangers back in February in the trade deadline deal that sent Rick Nash to Boston. Beleskey has played well so far with the Wolf Pack, recording nine points (3G, 6A) in 14 games for the Rangers’ AHL affiliate. Beleskey is known as a gritty player and is a similar player to currently injured forward Cody McLeod, though the former has a bit more skill. Had Beleskey not suffered a separated shoulder at the end of training camp, there was a chance Beleskey could’ve made the team out of camp. The hope, from both Rangers management and fans, is that Beleskey’s arrival will help snap the Rangers out of their recent funk.

In a corresponding move to make room for Beleskey on the roster, the Rangers sent forward Tim Gettinger down to Hartford.

Following last week’s 7-5 slugfest in Brooklyn, the Rangers entered tonight’s game against their crosstown rivals having lost eight consecutive games to the Islanders. But, with Alex Georgiev between the pipes and Filip Chytil entering the game with goals in four straight, the Rangers were in a good position to come away with the two points.

Filip Chytil – The 19-year-old rookie is showing the NHL why the Rangers were right to take him in the first round of the 2017 NHL draft. Chytil got his fifth goal of the season in the opening moments of the first period, corralling his own blocked pass and firing the puck into the net.

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Since being moved to the wing, we have seen Chytil’s offensive game getting better and better every night. If this keeps up, the Rangers may have found the homegrown superstar forward they’ve been missing.

Cody McLeod – My thoughts on Mr. McLeod are well known, but I am not too big of a man to admit when I’m wrong. McLeod played a strong game tonight, scoring the second goal of the game on a redirect of Tony DeAngelo’s point shot. The tally was the first of McLeod’s Rangers career and first since December 2017.

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The only negative from tonight for McLeod was that he injured his hand in a scrap with Ross Johnston, one McLeod was reluctant to participate in with the Blueshirts leading in the second period. If McLeod is going to be out for the weekend’s games, we could see a call up from Hartford.

Neal Pionk – The Rangers signed Pionk as a college free agent from UMD, and boy, has he made the Rangers front office look like geniuses. Pionk is defensively astute in his own end and has started to blossom offensively this season. The Rangers third goal of the night came on the power play as Pionk stepped into a slap shot to make it 3-0 Blueshirts.

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Kevin Hayes – Signed to a one-year deal in the off-season, Kevin Hayes is determined to prove to the Rangers he will be worth the long term financial investment. And with the way he’s been playing over the last couple of weeks, you could certainly make a strong argument that Hayes shouldn’t go anywhere at season’s end. Hayes notched his fifth goal of the campaign, finishing off a nice play that started with forcing a turnover by the Isles. If Hayes is going to get the money he seeks from the Rangers, he will have to continue playing at this level for the rest of the year.

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Chris Kreider – Rangers fans have been waiting for Kreider to put it all together and David Quinn seems to have gotten him to do just that. Kreider has used his size, speed and skill to propel him to the top of the Rangers scoring lead as he notched his 12th goal of the season with an absolute snipe past Robin Lehner. Under the previous regime, we saw Kreider have moments of brilliance but it always seemed like he was missing something. Now, Kreider is turning into the power forward the fans have been waiting to see.

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Alexandar Georgiev – After last week’s loss, David Quinn decided to give Georgiev a crack at ending the Rangers’ losing streak against the Islanders. Georgiev proved to be equal to the task as he recorded his first NHL shutout with 29 saves.

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With a plethora of goaltending prospects waiting in the wings, Georgiev’s future on Broadway may be a bit up in the air. But as long he is on Jeff Gorton’s roster, he will be a very serviceable backup for Henrik Lundqvist.

Next Game: The Blueshirts will head to the City of Brotherly Love on Friday to face the Flyers. Puck drops at 1!

LETS GO RANGERS!!

Let’s get it out of the way: I liked Tanner Glass. Every fan’s evisceration of that always smiling, always grinding, semi-enforcer who rarely took off a shift in terms of energy always made me chuckle as if there was a better game-ready suit in the rafters waiting to take his place that did what he did. I say ‘semi’ because I actually liked his deceptive quickness to-the-man and he every so often scored something important.

Everyone though just saw him as a roadblock to letting the kids play and getting their experience time in. Meanwhile, never mind the fact that AV handled youth development like a NIMBY old man yelling at a cloud, with a lot of gum chewing.

Despite the double entendre, Cody McLeod is the modern day Rangers’ Tanner Glass. He’s a hard-working, mostly slogging but rough-and-tumble winger that is out there to create havoc and protect the children. Let’s face it, it’s him and sometimes Zuccarello, which is crazy considering there’s big Chris Kreider and a huge Kevin Hayes and…ok that’s it really; no one else really gets in anyone’s face anymore, or even much go out of their way to finish a check, really. At least not the way McLeod does.

He plays anywhere from 6-8 minutes per game, and when going well, he should get in one good ‘hit’ per minute. No points; never any points. Almost exclusively minuses or zeroes on the stat sheet. It’s an inglorious package that is hard to appreciate unless you are there and paying attention when he makes a hit that stuns/pins in a player against the boards in their own zone; so that someone with skill can grab the puck and do something positive with it.

Cody’s been solid of late, complimenting David Quinn’s no-nonsense style and level of accountability quite well. Under Alain Vigneault, the fit was not good for Cody, but I’d more attribute that to AV having *so* lost the room/clubhouse/arena/zip code that he could have put Dancing Larry on the fourth line and it wouldn’t have mattered. The Nashville game last season where Vesey got nailed with a nasty elbow and Staal got rammed into the end boards, to which Cody promptly did – nothing. Was that on him? AV?  Who knows, but my money’s on the guy that didn’t do this and this.

DQ’s night & day different coaching style in almost every way speaks so well to a bruiser/cruncher like Mr. McLeod. Truth be told, at age 34, it’s really all he has left to give a hockey club; try and create space with his body, get the fancy talents like Laine/Matthews/Barzal looking over their shoulders just a little. Everyone is playing harder too, and it’s why they’re second in the division. Have we ever seen Vesey play with this much energy; dare I say a little snarl? Even Zibanejad. Life, feeds on life, feeds on life.

In what is most likely one of his last hurrahs, this is a good fit for Cody McLeod under David Quinn. The style is simple, straightforward, and so far, effective. Fans are often confounded why coach after coach still call on guys like Cody, Ryan Reaves, Matt Martin, et. al. when they turn on NHL Tonight and watch clips of Connor McDavid look like he’s on an electric bicycle coming down the middle of the ice…but there’s only one of him; the rest of us need people to help open up that middle.

Also, Edmonton is terrible.

On Salute To The Troops night at The Garden, the Rangers hosted the Vancouver Canucks in a clash of two young teams looking to extend their respective points streaks. The Blueshirts won a close, albeit sometimes sloppy, game to send the MSG faithful home happy.

Filip Chytil – You could just sense that Filip Chytil was going to get the proverbial monkey off of his back and get his first goal of the season. And for the 19-year-old native of the Czech Republic, that finally happened in the second period of this one. With the Rangers on the man-advantage, Chytil found the rebound of Neal Pionk’s point shot and deposited it behind an outstretched Jacob Markstrom.

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Chytil has been impressive in his last few games, always surrounding the puck and putting himself in the right position offensively and defensively. With the way Chytil has been playing, don’t be surprised if he gets moved up to the first line to replace the injured Pavel Buchnevich.

Brett Howden – The 20-year-old Canadian stated often in training camp that he was going to do whatever it took to make the Rangers opening night roster. And now that we are a month into the 2018-19 season, it seems Howden won’t be going anywhere for a long time. With the game tied at one in the third, Howden found a loose puck and fired it past Markstrom to give the Blueshirts a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

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The goal was Howden’s fourth of the season and his tenth point, tying for fourth in team scoring with linemate Jimmy Vesey and Mats Zuccarello. Howden has played so well that the Rangers coaching staff had him on the ice with the Canucks pressing for the tying goal in the final moments of the game. Brett Howden isn’t going anywhere.

Cody McLeod – If you’ve been following me all season, you know how much I was dumbfounded by the McLeod signing and with the amount of ice time he has gotten. But, for one night, his actions helped give the Rangers life and got the team going. After Goldobin gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead, McLeod dropped the mitts, won the tilt, and, as you’ll see in the clip below, turned to the bench telling his teammates to wake up. It’s safe to say that, at least for one night, McLeod had a positive impact on the ice.

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Henrik Lundqvist – Aside from a perfect shot from a Canucks forward, Henrik was in top of his game, backstopping the Blueshirts to their sixth win in the last seven games. Henrik made 25 stops on the night, including a flurry in the final seconds to preserve the victory. The win was the 437th of Lundqvist’s illustrious career, putting him in a tie with Hall of Famer Jacques Plante for seventh all-time.

Next Game: The Rangers will look to extend their winning streak to three against the Islanders on Thursday. Puck drops at 7!

LETS GO RANGERS!!