The Rangers are excited for the playoffs — and planning for the future
Players within the Rangers’ organization who can be exposed
Forwards: Lias Andersson, Pavel Buchnevich, Filip Chytil, Phillip Di Giuseppe, Julien Gauthier, Ryan Gropp, Gabriel Fontaine, Tim Gettinger, Brett Howden, Dawson Leedahl, Brendan Lemieux, Boo Nieves, Danny O’Regan, Ty Ronning, Ryan Strome.
Defensemen: Brandon Crawley, Tony DeAngelo, Nick Ebert, Libor Hajek, Ryan Lindgren, Darren Raddysh.
Goalie: Alexandar Georgiev
Notes: Forwards Vinni Lettieri and Danny O’Regan are Group-6 UFA’s after this season. Lettieri is 25 and has less than 80 games of NHL experience so he will become an unrestricted free agent. He’s got eight points and a minus-19 rating in 46 matches with New York. O’Regan is 26 and has played in 25 NHL games, but none for the Blueshirts.
Players the Rangers should protect
It remains to be seen what the Rangers will decide regarding Ryan Strome and Tony DeAngelo, who have been key components but are set to become RFA’s after the playoffs. For now, I’m including each on my protected list.
Forwards: Panarin, Zibanejad, Kreider, Chytil, Strome, Lemieux, Howden.
Defensemen: Trouba, DeAngelo and Lindgren.
Goalie: Georgiev. Veteran Jean-Francois Berube will become an UFA this off-season unless the Rangers can work out something with him. Otherwise, look for the Rangers to sign another veteran to expose.
Here are the reasons for protecting the players on my list:
Tony DeAngelo: The 24-year-old exploded last season as one of the league’s best offensive defensemen, finishing tied for fourth in points among blueliners (53) and knotted two others for third in goals (15). He’s a smooth, swift skater with good vision who can move the puck 200 feet in orseemingly effortless fashion. Like Trouba and Fox, DeAngelo is a righty. However, he has played on the left side as well.
The downside is he’s a defensive liability.
Last season, he had 17 takeaways and 65 giveaways. In his career, he’s turned over the puck 143 more times than he’s swiped it. To be fair, he doesn’t shy from physical play and is quick to defend teammates. But his defensive struggles include trying to thread the needle for that perfect pass, getting burned after pinching in, or missing coverage assignments. Both the coaching staff and DeAngelo, himself, have acknowledged he needs to get better.
There’s also the matter of money. How much it will take the Rangers to sign him to a longterm deal? Ballpark: probably between $4.5-$6.5 million per. That might seem outrageous for a young player with only two strong NHL seasons on his hockey card, but that seems to be the going-rate for young, productive blueliners.
Torey Krug is a perfect example — and comparison.
The Boston Bruins gave him a four-year deal worth $21 million in June 2016 when the RFA was 24 years old, after leading the team’s blueliners points (44) and assists (40), and logging and average of 21:36 of ice time per game, second only to Hall of Fame-bound Zdeno Chara. When Krug signed, he’d already posted 125 points in 241 games.
DeAngelo is right there with Krug, putting up 105 points in 200 NHL games, including 91 in 161 matches with the Rangers.
Elsewhere, teams are paying less-productive defensemen far more than the $925,000 DeAngelo received last season.
The Calgary Flames gave Rasmus Andersson, 23, $4.55 million; he had 22 points in 70 games last season. The Pittsburgh Penguins paid veteran Justin Schultz $6 million for 12 points in 46 matches. How do you think Brendan Shanahan and Kyle Dubas feel after trading for Tyson Barrie and his $6 million-per after he produced just 39 points for the Toronto Maple Leafs?
No disrespect toward those players, but that’s the kind of money it could take for the Rangers to sign DeAngelo long term, and you can bet his agent will point that out. If it means losing a player like Hajek, so be it. DeAngelo has already done what Hajek’s yet to — produce at the NHL level. The Blueshirts have signed Miller and are expected to ink Lundkvist before the expansion draft.
Ryan Lindgren: Finished second among Rangers’ defensemen in hits (94) behind only Trouba and since-traded Brady Skjei. Lindgren plays with a snarl yet had just 47 penalty minutes in 60 matches, which clearly indicates he plays a clean, hard game. He got better as the season progressed and is just 22.
Brett Howden: I like Howden. He’s got good size (6-3, 195), works hard, and seems to have a great attitude for a kid of 22. He also won 48.2 percent of his draws. Only McKegg (49.3) and Zibanejad (49.2) were better. Less impressive are his 40.3 Corsi For percentage and minus-11 rating. In fairness, he wasn’t alone on the ice. And with a new defensive coach, experience, and maturity, I believe he can become a solid defensive forward.
Brendan Lemieux: He’s by far the most physical and feisty forward the Rangers have, as evidenced by his team-best 164 hits and 111 penalty minutes. However, many of those PIMs reflect numerous unnecessary and poorly-timed infractions that have cost his team in power-play goals against and valuable time with his team trailing in close games.
Case in point Lemieux’s headshot on Avalanche forward Joonas Donskoi during the team’s match at Colorado on March 11 (a day before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the league). The cheapshot put the Rangers on the penalty kill with under three minutes remaining and trailing by a goal. Worse, Lemieux’s suspended for the first two games of the Rangers’ Qualifying Round series against the Carolina Hurricanes (Game One is set for Noon on Saturday).
Last December, Lemieux was fined for elbowing the head of of Vegas’ Cody Glass. And as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, he was suspended for a headshot on Florida’s Vincent Trocheck, and was fined another time for an elbow to an opponent’s head. Still, he plays with tons of heart, stands up for his teammates, and is just 24. Personally, I’m hoping he remains with the team provided he grows up hockey-wise and learns to pick his spots.
Filip Chytil: After posting three points in nine games on Broadway and working on his game at AHL Hartford (where he had 31 points in 46 games) as an 18-year-old in 2017-18, Chytil put up 11 goals (23 points) in 75 contests for the Rangers in 2018-19, and 14 tallies (23 points) in 60 matches last season.
His plus-minus last season was minus-7, which obviously isn’t great, but a drastic improvement from being minus-22 the previous season. In other words, the kid’s learning how to play in this league when he doesn’t have the puck. He’s also done well in using his 6-foot-2, 206-pound frame to shield the puck and overpower defenders.
Ryan Strome: The 26-year-old has posted consecutive seasons of 18 goals for the Blueshirts. And after clicking with Panarin last season, put up career highs in points (59), assists (41), and power-play helpers (14). He seems to have found his niche on Broadway after stints with the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers.