Skinner signed, bad news on the playoff front

The New York Rangers were give a day off after back-to-back games and three contests in four days, all on the road.  It came on the heels of a lost weekend as the Rangers dropped one goal games to the Flyers and Capitals.

There was not much to report on the roster front except for the signing of Hunter Skinner to an entry level contract.  Skinner was a fourth round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, 112 overall. He played his first year with the London Knights of the OHL and had decent numbers with six goals and 32 points in 62 games.

In December he was a late addition to the Team USA roster at the World Junior Championships due to COVID and won gold, though he played in only one game.  After the tournament, he signed with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL while waiting for the OHL to resume play.

With that still in doubt, Skinner has inked his entry level deal that kicks in with the 2021-22 season.  He will be able to play the rest of this season with Hartford and could get a look see in New York if the team wants it.  In Hartford he joins fellow OHL refugee Will Cuylle who has been with Hartford while waiting for the OHL season.

Since Skinner had not been offered a contract he needed to be signed by this summer or become a free agent.  The Rangers had to be impressed by his work in the ECHL where he scored seven goals and had 17 points in 26 games.  He is a right shot defender so he adds to the depth chart that includes Jacob Trouba, Adam Fox, Nils Lundkvist, Braden Schneider and Darren Raddysh.

Zac Jones to the Frozen Four

Another stud Rangers defense prospect will be headed to the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh.  Zac Jones is a left shot defender, taken in the third round in 2019, one pick ahead of Hunter Skinner. Jones has had a very impressive college career at UMass. This season he tallied eight goals and 23 points in 27 games and he had three assists in the Minutemen’s first round win over Lake Superior State in the NCAA tourney.

UMass will take on two time defending champion Minnesota-Duluth on April 8.  The winner will take on the winner of Minnesota State and St. Cloud State.

The Rangers had another potential Frozen Four contender in Eric Ciccolini or Michigan, but the Wolverines were not able to compete after several players came down with COVID.

An honor for Adam Fox

Adam Fox was selected as Player of the Week by the NHL for his 11 points in ten games.  It’s a well deserved honor for a player who is rapidly becoming one of the best blueliners in the NHL in just his second season.

This follows the week when Mika Zibanejad was selected as the third star of the week.

East Division

Monday was not a good night for the New York Rangers.  The Islanders lost to Pittsburgh and they are now tied with the Pens for second place and they are 14 points ahead of the Rangers who have two games in hand.

The crazy game was in Buffalo where the Sabres blew a 3-0 lead in the third period, giving up the tying goal with 1:29 left in the game. The Flyers then won in the first minute of overtime.

The Flyers have now opened up a four point lead on with the Rangers for fifth place. It’s now 18 games losses in a row for the Sabres. That’s a record for the post-shootout era and one more than the longest losing streak of all time, 17 games, held by three teams.  While the Sabres have lost 18 games, two were in overtime and one was by shootout.

The Sabres have a game against Philadelphia on Wednesday before hosting the Rangers for two games later this week.

Today’s games

Capitals at Rangers
Devils at Bruins

Monday’s games

Flyers 4, Sabres 3 (Overtime)
Penguins 2, Islanders 1

Standings

1-  Washington    34   23-7-4      50 points
2- Islanders          36   22-10-4     48 points
3- Pittsburgh        36   23-11-2    48 points
4- Boston              31    17-9-5      39 points
5- Philadelphia    34   17-13-4     38 points
6- Rangers            34   15-15-4    34 points
7- New Jersey       33  13-16-4    30 points
8- Buffalo               34    6-23-5     17 points