Tortorella, Zibanejad, team awards and more

Mika owns up on COVID

On break-up day, Mika Zibanejad admitted that his bout with COVID-19 was much worse than he let on during the season.   This is what he said on break up day.

“It was a unique situation, obviously, having COVID, and having one practice before the season really started.  I think I tried to tell myself that it wasn’t, that I was feeling good, and I was feeling fine. But it wasn’t easy. I didn’t really feel up to speed after that, and it took me a while to kind of get back just physically and mentally.   And I didn’t want to have anything to, to kind of have an excuse or whatever.  I didn’t want to tell myself that and kind of just give myself an excuse.
That was the reason I didn’t talk about it as much as people asked me about it.”

While there had been much speculation about his slow start including some rumors that his off-season workout regimen had a role, we now know that it was the virus that affected him.

One question has to be whether he rushed back and that delayed his recovery.  Would he have been better off not playing at all until he was ready for full time action?   Unfortunately, we will never know.

Zibanejad now goes into the final year of his contract with the question of whether he will get a new deal.   He has indicated that he wants to stay and based on his performance since St. Patrick’s Day, he is the player he was at the end of 2019-20.   If the Rangers decide that they want to extend him it could have a major effect on whether they jump into the Jack Eichel sweepstakes.

Team awards

Adam Fox added the Rangers’ team MVP award to his resume to go along with the Steven McDonald Award.  Since the MVP award is voted on by the media and the McDonald Award comes from the fans, it’s a consensus that Fox was the team’s best player.

Fox is still the NHL’s top point getter among defenseman with 47 though he could be passed by Edmonton’s Tyson Barrie who has 46 points and two more games to play.   He will probably finish sixth among all skaters in assists with 42.

As previously discussed, Ryan Lindgren got the Players’ Player Award, voted by his teammates.   Brendan Smith got the John Halligan Good Guy Award for his cooperation with the media.  In a season with no locker room or player access, Smith’s honesty in media Zoom calls was refreshing.   The highlight was after the Capitals melee when a reporter asked Smith if he thought the team was “soft.”  Smith fired right back. “Do you think we’re soft?”  Of course, the reporter said no, when the answer is somewhere in between.

Smith is an Unrestricted Free Agent, after being overpaid for the last four years.   He could come back if he is willing to take a substantial cut in pay on a one year deal. He would lend a veteran presence and versatility to the locker room and is certainly a better option than a Jack Johnson. Then again, the Rangers could probably do better. While we all lauded him for taking on Tom Wilson, let’s not forget that awful giveaway when he handed the puck to Daniel Sprong of the Capitals, all alone in front of the Rangers net for an uncontested goal.

The World Championships

The IIHF World Championships are scheduled for May 21 in Riga, Latvia.  So far there is no word of any Rangers taking part with the only news being that Alexis Lafrenière is not going to play for Canada and Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller will not be playing for the United States.

With the team still breaking up, we should expect to hear if any players will be participating.  There are a number of players who could play if they want to.  The compact NHL schedule along with COVID-19 travel considerations are affecting participation.

NHL Entry Draft

When the Dallas Stars lost to the Blackhawks on Sunday, it locked the Rangers into their position in the NHL Entry Draft.  They finished with the best record of any team not making the playoffs, tied in points with the Stars, but with more regulation and overtime wins.  The Rangers will pick 15th overall.  Normally it would be the 16th pick since Seattle is in the draft, but Arizona forfeited their first round pick due to recruiting violations.

According to Tankathon.com, that gives the Rangers a 0.5% chance at getting the top pick and a 1.1% chance of getting the second  overall pick in the lottery.

The Rangers have their first pick, no second round pick (traded in the Marc Staal deal), two third round picks (including the pick that belonged to Buffalo from the Jimmy Vesey trade) and three fourth round picks (all belonging to non-playoff teams).  They have six picks among the top 111 selections.

That means that their two top picks with be 15th and 64th overall.  That is of course, if they don’t win the lottery.  The question is whether the McDonald family will give Chris Drury Steven McDonald’s NYPD shield as a good luck charm again.

The draft will be held on July 23-24.