New York Rangers 16-17 Report Cards: The Extra Skaters
We have already graded all the New York Rangers regulars so far this summer. Now it’s time to grade the skaters who played limited minutes throughout the season.
We have been doing our season in review report cards for a little over a month here on Blue Line Station and after finishing grading the regulars in the New York Rangers lineup. it is now time to grade the reserves.
These guys spent more time in the press box then on the ice in 2016-2017 due to one thing or another and each brought different things to the table when the Rangers had injuries. Now that the season is over, some will sign back in hopes to sneak into the team’s opening night lineup, while others will leave Broadway, looking for another opportunity elsewhere.
Matt Puempel
Puempel was acquired off of waivers from the Ottawa Senators in November. In his 52 games spanning three seasons, Puempel had only notched four goals and two assists. As a guy who was drafted in the first round to be a scorer, Puempel never delivered, and the Senators gave up.
The winger was very solid in his first 27 games a Rangers, notching six goals and three assists in total. Puempel even tallied a hat trick on the power play against the Coyotes back in December. He has shown the Rangers flashes of offensive brilliance, although they weren’t consistent enough to get him in the lineup every night.
The Rangers, to be Expansion Draft compliant, re-signed Puempel to a one-year deal last week and will give him an opportunity to make the top 12 out of camp, especially if a current fourth liner is taken in the Expansion Draft.
Grade: C+
Brandon Pirri
Pirri was a guy that the analytics crowd had begged the Rangers to bring aboard for a few seasons. Through the preseason, he looked like a great fit. The Rangers used him on the power play and planted him in the right circle, where he was thriving at first.
When Mika Zibanejad got hurt in mid-November, Pirri, who was asked to play a bigger role, disappeared, not physically, but on the scoresheet.
Pirri didn’t give the Rangers any reason to keep him in their lineup other than the fact that they absolutely had to with all the injuries that their forward group had sustained. Once the team regained its health, Pirri was asked to sit in the press box and he never really escaped, for good reason.
Grade: D
Kevin Klein
After a few years of being a very solid defender for the Rangers, Kevin Klein met his match this season as Father Time and the Injury bug ganged up on him. Klein only played 60 games and notched the worst goals (3) assists (11) and points (14) totals he registered in his three full seasons with the Rangers.
Even worse than his play fading on the offensive side of the puck was his play fading on defense. Klein just looked different this season. He was never the fastest skater on the ice, but Klein looked flat out slow this past year. Because of this, the Rangers went out and acquired Brendan Smith at the trade deadline. Klein would more or less remain in the press box from that point on. He only appeared in one playoff game, where he looked very shaky.
There is a strong possibility that Klein retires from the NHL this summer in hopes to play hockey overseas, according to Larry Brooks. At this point in his career, I think it would be a great move for all parties involved.
Grade: C-
Adam Clendening
Clendening was a favorite of folks who followed the analytics movement, a nobody to most other onlookers, and somebody who wasn’t gonna get in the lineup on Alain Vigneault’s watch. But honestly, in a bigger role, Clendening might have been just fine on the third pair, and this is coming from a person who has one foot in the analytics ring and one foot out.
If Clendening is a fringe NHL player, the Rangers had two guys on their defense who wouldn’t be sniffing top-line minutes in the AHL. When paired with Brady Skjei, the two players worked well together and helped the Rangers push the pace of play. Clendening is a skilled young puck mover, albeit and average at best defender.
His Corsi for rating was the best of any Ranger to play at least 10 games (56.1). Clendening showed that he had the ability to quarterback the second power play unit in a few brief instances too. All of this wasn’t enough for the Rangers to qualify him an offer, making him an unrestricted free agent again this summer.
In October he will play with his sixth NHL team in four years. I really hope he sticks around somewhere, although it won’t be here.
Grade: B
Tanner Glass
Glass, a player that you either love or hate, had a very interesting path to playing time this past season.
Just when you thought he was done with the big club after being down in the AHL all year, he was called up around March after the team got manhandled physically by the Canadiens. Glass only played 11 regular season games, notching one goal and one assist–good stats for him–in that time, but he was the same old, bad Tanner.
The playoffs were a different story.
Glass scored the first goal of the Rangers playoff run–albeit shortlived–against the Canadiens on a crazy backhander. That set the tone for how effective Glass would be in the series. Glass was making plays in all three zones, was finishing his checks with authority and giving his teammates some much-needed energy. Glass split time with Pavel Buchnevich as the 12th forward and when he was called upon, he was more than just solid.
Next: Five Expansion Draft trade targets
Don’t be surprised if that playoff run played him onto another roster for 17-18. Hopefully, though, it won’t be the Rangers.