What does Micheal Haley bring to the Rangers?

Former Ranger Micheal Haley is reportedly coming to New York Rangers training camp on a PTO (Professional Try Out).  What does he bring to the team?

Rick Carpiniello tweeted that the New York Rangers have invited Micheal Haley to training camp.  While the team is in serious cap trouble, the addition of someone like Haley does make some sense.    Even if he doesn’t make an impression, it’s a no brainer to invite players to training camp as the Rangers have nothing to lose.

First, some background.  Haley is a tough guy who led the league in penalty minutes while with Florida in 2017-18.  He’s certainly not a goal scorer, with careers highs of 3 goals and 12 points. He has played parts of eight seasons in the NHL including a brief nine game stint with the Rangers in 2012-13.  He had been signed as an undrafted player by the Islanders in 2008.  In juniors, he was always a fighter though he did score 30 goals in his last year in the OHL.

Other than the nine games in New York (no points and 12 PIM), he spent most of two seasons in the AHL for the Connecticut Whale and Hartford Wolf Pack (same team, new name). Believe it or not, he actually played in two playoff games for the Rangers in the Semi-Final series they lost to Boston in 2013.  He played about 12 minutes in the two games and had no impact except for a minus one rating.

His career got a boost when he was signed by the San Jose Sharks and subsequently by the Florida Panthers.  He was claimed on waivers last February by San Jose and saw action in 11 of the Sharks’ 20 playoff games, averaging just under seven minutes of ice time a game.

ProHockeyRumors.com aptly pointed out that the year he led the league in penalty minutes he spent 212 minutes in the box and 584 minutes on the ice.  You want to see how tough he is?  Watch this:

Haley is 33 year old and was making $825k on a two year deal from the Panthers.

Reasons it could work

The immediate speculation was that the presence of an enforcer like Haley will force Brendan Lemieux into signing his qualifying offer instead of holding out for more money.  I disagree with that thinking.  I think the Rangers want to sign Lemieux to a bridge deal for more money and longer term and are still working on clearing cap space so they can do it.

However, someone like Haley on the team could have a positive impact on Brendan Lemieux. Lemieux was fifth in the NHL in penalty minutes and seventh on the team although he only played 19 games in New York.  Lemieux’s value is his willingness to crash the net and play a physical game.  He took six major penalties last year and was more than eager to drop his gloves.  The Rangers are a better team with Lemieux on the ice instead of in the penalty box. The presence of Haley alleviates that responsibility from Lemieux and he can concentrate on playing hockey.

Having muscle like Haley on the team makes it more likely that the Rangers could get rid of Brendan Smith either in a trade or by burying him in the AHL.  Other than Lemieux, Smith is the only player on the team that can play an enforcer role. While he is a versatile, physical player and is willing to fight for his teammates, he is also expensive.

Burying Smith in the AHL would save the team $1,075,000 in cap space.  If they signed Haley to the league minimum, it would  give the team about $300k to spend on Lemieux or Tony DeAngelo.  Not much, but it is something.

An even better solution would be finding a taker for Brendan Smith on a retained salary transaction.  If the Rangers could trade Smith in return for a draft pick and covering half of his $4.35 million salary, it would be a win-win for the Blueshirts.

Finally, getting back to the enforcer role, it’s a hole in the roster that needs to be filled.  The Rangers have some high priced or valuable young talent in Artemi Panarin, Vitali Kravtsov and Kaapo Kakko and you can be sure that they will be tested.  Having someone like Haley around will keep those shenanigans to a minimum.

Micheal Haley is one of those guys that hockey managers like to have around.  They are good in the locker room and make a team harder to play against.  While it is unlikely that Haley will stick, there are a few reasons it makes some sense.

Also, beside Micheal Ferland, he is the only NHL player who spells his first name that way.  Ferland and Haley are the only two in NHL history to do so.