How Colin Blackwell has quietly replaced Jesper Fast

When Jesper Fast was lit up by Brady Skjei in the opening seconds of the 2020 playoff qualifier between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers, I think we all surmised that hit was not only his final moment of the series, but as a Ranger, too.

Fast served a unique ‘Swiss army knife’ role for parts of seven seasons on Broadway. He was never defined as a skill player, but rather someone who led by example with an unmatched 200-foot work ethic.

When the Rangers let him walk in the fall, ironically to Carolina for $2 million AAV, they lost their most effective penalty killer, a complement to any line, and someone good for a clutch goal here and there. While this versatile profile seemed irreplaceable, Jeff Gorton’s vision was to scrape up a cheap solution to compensate for the hole the 29-year-old Swede would leave behind.

Insert Colin Blackwell.

Now, I won’t lie. When Blackwell was signed to a two-year deal of $725,000 AAV, I was not familiar with him or his 33 games played in Nashville. The 27-year-old who had amassed 10 points was one of several table scrap adds that were a head scratch. It seemed as if the Rangers were going to target some hotter free agents, but securing the No. 1 overall pick sufficed.

Lo and behold, he would make his Blueshirts debut with a splash—tallying three points in his first three games and serving up Alexis Lafreniere for his first career goal in overtime. From there, it was clear that he gained David Quinn’s trust. Fast forward 21 games later, Blackwell has sustained top six-minutes, has assisted special teams, and has established a ‘never-give up’ work ethic. Sound like someone familiar?

I won’t go as far to say that Blackwell will be a five-time Players’ Player Award winner. In that respect, Fast is one-of-a-kind, but Blackwell is technically sound. And when most of your roster is younger than 23, a stable presence like him is useful. He has slid right into Fast’s spot alongside Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome, which was a gig that many hoped Kaapo Kakko or Lafreniere would have secured.

Say what you will, but putting Kakko, Lafreniere, and Filip Chytil together is better than pushing one of them into a top-six role when they may not be ready. Those three are the future of the Rangers and boiling up some chemistry between them isn’t such a bad thing; that is as long as they get the minutes, though… which is another story.

Blackwell may not be the sexiest name to tag alongside Panarin, but neither was Fast—and why fix what isn’t broken? There is of course the argument that this year is for development and even if the Rangers were to squeak into the playoffs, they won’t go far. So, why take minutes away from kids? Well, I agree. But, I also think winning is crucial for the kids development, and Blackwell has given no reason to demote him.

He’s merely a temporary solution—a piece of duct tape. And while that’s an unflattering analogy, it means that for these two seasons, the Rangers have a reliable make-shift player that can plug in as needed while the important pieces evolve.

Thus far—with Blackwell headlining the bunch—it looks like Gorton did his homework with his obscure summer signings. And—if the Rangers should qualify for the playoffs—like Fast, Blackwell is the type of player that is playoff material. He’d be an asset regardless of what the expectations would be.