The Rangers kick off four straight games against the devils. If New York fancies themselves as playoff contenders, seven points are a must, if not eight. The path forward is fairly clear, no grey, no wiggle room. Even with that many points, no guarantees, but it should put them in closer striking distance to Boston.
Obviously, the big news yesterday was the passing of the trade deadline and signing of Zac Jones. Both are somewhat mutually exclusive but linked. We didn't expect much movement at the deadline. GM Jeff Gorton rightly listened but nothing proposed moved the needle and none of the kids were to be dealt. The team is in the position to play "meaningful games" down the stretch, as they did last year, with more of the kids - including the probable call up of Morgan Barron - learning what it means to participate in these contests, which should accelerate their growth.
“We made a number of calls, took a number of calls, went through a number of scenarios,” Gorton said. “It’s clear that we have a plan in place and nothing that came along was going to add to what we want to do or was something we felt was going to help us short-term or long-term.”
“Our focus has been that we’re trying to get better all the time,” Gorton said. “We’re trying to play as many meaningful games, take one day at a time, as we can, and let the chips fall where they may. We’re, as you know, in a very difficult division and we’ve hung in there pretty well. … I’m happy that our games right now are meaningful, our guys are developing — you see these young kids get better and I feel like the team is playing as well as we have maybe all year.
“You’re seeing the strides they’re making, you’re seeing the opportunities they’re getting, and it’s hard not to feel good about the Rangers’ future and where we’re headed.”
Jones officially signed today. A few keys:
- no performance bonuses
- the deal includes a signing bonus of $92.5K, and comes in at a cap hit of $832,500 against the cap.
- year 1 of ELC will be burned, but think that was a necessity to sign. Better to get it done now than wait, watch him have another big year and then possibly lose him or have to pay even more.
- he did not need to go through quarantine, which differed from what was previously reported. Jones practiced with the team today but not clear when he might play. I would think 1-2 games at Hartford would be wise, but he could step in the lineup when ready like Cale Makar did in Colorado.
- Jones, 20, a lefty puck-moving defenseman, was picked in the third round (No. 68 overall) of the 2019 draft. He had nine goals and 24 points in 29 games this season and made the all-tournament team as UMass won the title
Same lineup tonight and for the fourth straight contest, including the OT loss to the Isles on Sunday. If the Rangers play as they did in the second and third periods, a win should be at hand. New Jersey has not been a push over, despite going 1-5-1 their last seven, even without Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac, joined elsewhere by Dimitry Kulikov, Sami Vatanen and Nikita Gusev.
To quote Al Davis, just win baby.
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