Rangers latest: Callahan retires, Huska to camp, NHL player movements and the WJC

Player movement

The Bruins bid farewell to their captain, Zdeno  Chara as he signed a one year deal with the Washington Capitals. While Chara is nowhere near the player that he was a few years ago, he makes an impressive Washington defense even better.  The 43-year old is the oldest player in the NHL.

If Henrik Lundqvist had been able to play this season he and Chara’s combined ages would have totaled 81 years.  Alexis Lafrenière, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Ryan Lindgren combined are less than that.

As for the Bruins, there is no way that Boston’s defense is better than last year. With the departure of Chara and Torey Krug, the team’s top two left shot defensemen are gone.  The pair were also the most experienced defenders on the team, so the Bruins will be going with a youth movement on the blue line.

Ex-Ranger Derick Brassard is heading west, signing a one year deal with the Arizona Coyotes, ostensibliy to replace another former Ranger, Derek Stepan, who was traded to Ottawa.  Arizona will be his seventh team in six years.  He spent the last season with the Islanders, scoring ten goals and 32 points in 64 games.

As for the Islanders, nothing to report on the Matthew Barzal front.  The two sides are talking,but there has been no report of any movement.

The AHL season

The American Hockey League made it official. They will start their season on February 5.  It’s an important development, especially since the all three Canadian junior leagues have delayed the start of their seasons indefinitely.

With AHL training camps due to begin in mid-January, it means that many prospects who would be playing in the CHL will have a place to go.  That includes players like defenseman Matthew Robertson, the only Rangers prospect under contract who could have ended up playing in the WHL.

The NHL will have to figure out what to do about this as teams will be reluctant to sign players and burn a year of professional eligibility. but also will want their prospects to get meaningful experience.

The Canadian juniors players in the Rangers system include goalie Dylan Garand, defensemen Robertson, Braden Schneider, and Hunter Skinner and forwards Will Cuylle, Evan Vierling and Matt Rempe.

Besides he players in the CHL, the Rangers will have some tough decisions to make when it comes to who is on the taxi squad and who will play in Hartford.  It’s important to remember that players will have to clear waivers if they move from the NHL roster to the taxi squad, as if they were going to Hartford.

It’s likely that teams will experiment with the whole taxi squad concept and a lot will be determined by pandemic related issues in both the NHL and AHL. It will be a work in progress just like the entire 2021 season.

WJC update

When it comes to New York Rangers prospects at the World Junior Championships, it’s Brett Berard who is drawing all of the attention.   Three games into the preliminary round,  Team USA is 2-1 with a big match waiting with a huge matchup between the USA and Sweden on New Year’s Eve.

After an opening loss to Russia, the USA has absolutely dominated Austria 11-0 and easily handled a rough Czech squad 7-0.

Berard has been an eye opener on the left wing on a line with Bobby Brink and John Farinacci.  Trevor Zegras leads the team with five goals and 10 points, while Matt Boldy and Cam York each have five points.  Berard is right behind them with a goal and three assists for four points.

It’s worth noting that all three ahead of Berard were first rounds with Zegras the #9 pick, Boldy the #12 pick and York the #14 pick in the 2019 draft while Berard was a fifth round pick, #134 overall in the October draft.  He looks like a steal.

More than his scoring, it’s his aggressive play and willingness to go to the net that is most encouraging,especially for a player of his size.

Hunter Skinner, the only other Ranger prospect on Team USA has yet to see any action and barring injury, he won’t be playing against Sweden or playoffs.

When Russia ended Sweden’s 54 game winning streak in the preliminary rounds with an overtime power play goal on Wednesday night, it means Team USA will be playing for first place in Group B when they take on Sweden on New Year’s Eve.

Russia finished the prelims with a 3-1-0 record  and eight points.  Sweden has a 2-0-1 record and seven points.  The USA has a 2-1 -0  and six points.  If the USA wins in regulation, they finish first with nine points.  If they win in overtime or a shootout, they will still probably win with eight points and the goals differential tie breaker.   if Sweden can win in regulation or overtime, they finish first.

Seeding is important for the semifinals as the first place team from Group B plays the fourth place team from Group A.

As for Team Canada, they are undefeated in Group A play and have been a powerhouse, outscoring their competition 29-3 in their three wins.  Canada will play undefeated Finland on New Year’s Eve to see who will win Group A and get top seeding in the next round.

Rangers first round pick defenseman Braden Schneider came back from his one game suspension in Canada’s 10-0 win over Switzerland on Tuesday.  While Schneider hasn’t made it on the scoresheet in his two games, he has been a physical and the check that resulted in his game misconduct and suspension was unfortunate.

Rangers goalie prospect Dyland Garand has played one period in the team’s 16-2 win over Germany and is the top backup, but he won’t be taking Devon Levi’s job as the Northeastern University goalie has allowed only two goals in eight periods.

Thursday night, Canada will be playing Finland for first place in Group A. Both teams have won all three of their games.

The games will start getting meaningful now as most of the contests have been one-sided.  The best game of the tournament so far was the Czech Republic’s thrilling 2-0 win over Russia.

Canada plays Finland at 6pm Thursday while the USA takes on Sweden at 930pm with both games live on the NHL Network.