An amalgamation of Rangers' topics: Kreider, goalies, Drury, etc. (kreider)

kreider

An amalgamation of Rangers' topics: Kreider, goalies, Drury, etc.

By Jan Levine

Jan 30, 2020 • 8:31 am

0comment-bubble

With game action resuming for the Rangers tomorrow night, I thought I would amalgamate some of the quick updates that I posted to the comments to my prior blog along with maybe a few additional points here. We will resume game previews, recaps, etc. prior to the game against the Red Wings. In addition, as I did last year, timeframe somewhat dependent on where the team sits in the standings, we will resume the audience participation trade proposal - parameters to be provided again then - and voting blogs.

Igor Shesterkin recalled:

No surprise with this move. Shesterkin got in back-to-back games while in Hartford. Now, the three-headed monster is back. But I expect since he Shesterkin was promoted rather than staying in the AHL, he will see a copious amount of work. However, with Alexandar Georgiev and Henrik Lundqvist both still around, Shesterkin will also see some time in the press box, as he, rather Lundqvist will be a healthy scratch when Georgiev is between the pipes.

The goalie pipeline far from ends with the aforementioned three netminders. column where he discussed the overall Rangers' talent pool. One named mentioned in the column was defenseman Matthew Robertson, who is having a fantastic season. As I noted above and Cyrgalis covered as well, New York has a solid amount of riches between the pipes, which is another reason why many believe Georgiev will be dealt to bring in additional assets.

Elliotte Friedman's 31 Thoughts, with a pair of posts on the Rangers, one on Chris Kreider and one on the goalies:

Other players at all-star weekend think Chris Kreider really likes being a Ranger. The biggest challenge could be what offers they get for him. There will still be an extension conversation. If New York goes five or six years at around $6.75 million per, what will he say?

Chris Kreider possible landing spot in a trade:

This, as we have discussed before, like Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes, will play out until just before the trade deadline. If no extension is signed, and especially if the team is out of contention, then the likelihood is that Kreider will be dealt. But this is a topic that will be discussed ad naseum, ad infinitum until February 24.

Friedman on the goalies:

Kreider told a great story last Tuesday about Henrik Lundqvist dominating a shootout competition.

“I could have gone 15 times and not scored,… he said.

Lundqvist may not be playing as much, but he hasn’t lost any of the fire. This is not a confident prediction, but no one would be surprised if the Rangers punt their goalie decision until the post-season — keeping Lundqvist, Alexandar Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin for now. They don’t want to rush into a move they later regret. They may be looking for someone to help AHL Hartford in case Shesterkin goes to the NHL for good.

Friedman espouses a view that I have said previously. No reason exists to rush into a decision. Let the situation plays out, unless as Larry Brooks wrote and we discussed previously, a top-nine forward with definite top-six upside and potential is offered. If not, stay the course for the time being and then determine how best to proceed.

Chris Drury named GM of the 2020 US Men's National Team:

This is the second straight Drury, who in his fourth year as assistant general manager of the NHL’s New York Rangers and general manager of the Rangers’ AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack, is the GM. He is clearly viewed as a rising star in the front office and his selection also was likely influenced by his long history with USA Hockey, Drury could get poached by another team looking for a GM this summer but New York could try and block him, believing he is the clear, heir apparent to GM Jeff Gorton.

This is the video podcast I did on Monday on the NHL, but with a substantive focus on the Rangers:

A really good column breaking down and discussing the Rangers' trade options:

Well done by the LA Kings:

Show Comments
Loading...
Loading...
0
Show comments for this article