New York Rangers news: Adam Fox, K’Andre Miller honored and the rumor mill

The big  news when it comes to the New York Rangers was the fact that Adam Fox won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman.  He beat the odds, becoming the first player to win the award without making it to the postseason.   Although he boasted stellar offensive numbers, he garnered a lot of praise for his overall play and the fact that he faced the top opposition players every game.

Fox finished with 743 points in the voting, compared to 655 for Cale Makar and 433 for Victor Hedman.  He got 40 first place votes with 31 for Makar and 22 for Hedman.

It’s interesting that the first transaction under the new Chris Drury regime was the contract extension given to Ryan Lindgren.  Days after the Rangers fired team President John Davidson and General Manager Jeff Gorton, the team inked Lindgren to a three-year, $9 million deal.  Now, Drury will have to tackle an extension for Adam Fox.  Fox has one more year to go on his Entry Level Contract, but that wouldn’t prevent the Rangers from signing him to a long term contract.   You can be sure that the $8 million Jacob Trouba is earning will be a starting point.

Fox didn’t just win the Norris Trophy.  He was also named a First Team All-Star, the second straight year that the Rangers have had a player earn that distinction.  Artemi Panarin made the top team in 2020.

K’Andre Miller honored

Adam Fox wasn’t the only Ranger singled out by the NHL on Tuesday.  Defenseman K’Andre Miller was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team. He’s the first Ranger to make the team since Brady Skjei in 2017 and he is the 11th Blueshirt to make the team.

Miller was overlooked in the balloting for the Calder Trophy, finishing 12th with only eight points. Devils defenseman Ty Smith was the only blueliner ahead of him with 25 points.   He probably deserved more consideration considering he led all rookie defensemen with five goals,  he averaged 21:07 minutes of ice time which was second most among all rookies, and his plus/minus rating of +9 was second best among rookie defensemen

Igor Shesterkin actually had more Calder Trophy points than Miller with 165, fifth most among rookies, but behind goalie Alex Nedeljkovic of the Carolina Hurricanes who made the All-Rookie Team.

A new ECHL affiliate

The Rangers ended their ECHL affiliation with the Maine Mariners and will be calling Jacksonville, Florida the home for the Rangers and Wolf Pack’s farm team.  The Jacksonville Icemen entered into a multi-year affiliation agreement with the Blueshirts after working with the Winnipeg Jets for four years.

The Rangers couldn’t have been happy that the Maine Mariners chose to suspend operations in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Meanwhile, the Icemen played a full 71 game schedule and Rangers prospect Jake Elmer played for them this season.

The Mariners announced an affiliation with the Boston Bruins.  One oddity about the Mariners is that they are owned by Comcast, the parent company of the Philadelphia Flyers so the Rangers had a farm team that was owned by the Flyers.

Tuomo Ruutu departs

Tuomo Ruutu, Assistant Director of Player Development has departed to become an assistant coach with the Florida Panthers.  The team recently added Matt Hunwick to the development staff to work with Jed Ortmeyer and Tanner Glass.

Ruutu was responsible for working with prospects in Europe, so Chris Drury has another job to fill.  The team has six draft picks currently playing in Europe, mostly in the Swedish leagues, so it is an important role to fill.

Next up…some rumors are gaining traction.