New York Rangers Sunday roundup: The to-do list and free agent notes

Editor’s note: This story was amended to include late word on arbitration filings.

It’s August 1, normally the beginning of the dog days of summer for teams like the New York Rangers. It’s the month when hockey executives normally take their vacations as they are done with free agency, the NHL Entry Draft and trades. There’s not a lot to get done in August. Not this year.

Arbitration filing deadline day

There’s one big item on Chris Drury’s task list that has to get done. Today (August 1) is the deadline for players to file for arbitration. The Rangers have two players in that category in goalies Igor Shesterkin and Adam Huska.

While the team can sign players who have filed for arbitration any time up to a ruling, the idea that their top goalie is in a contract dispute with the team cannot be seen as a positive. There’s also the story that Shesterkin was “livid” over the trade of Buchnevich who was a good friend. The pair was together two seasons ago when they had the car accident in Brooklyn.

Here’s the process. Shesterkin has to file for arbitration by 5pm, which he will if he has not signed a contract. An arbitration hearing date is then scheduled for between August 17 and through September 1. Both sides are free to negotiate during that time and if they come to an agreement, the arbitration is obviously cancelled.

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Getting to a hearing is rare, especially for the Rangers. Last year, four players (DeAngelo, Georgiev, Lemieux, Strome) filed for arbitration and they all settled before the hearing. The year before it was Jacob Trouba and Pavel Buchnevich. In the last 11 years, 26 Rangers have filed for arbitration and they all settled before a hearing.

In fact, the last Ranger to go to arbitration was Nikolai Zherdev in 2009. He was awarded a $3.9 million salary by the arbitrator. What’s interesting is that case was the Rangers exercised their right to not honor the award and Zherdev became an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA).

At the hearing, both sides present the salary number they want and an impartial arbitrator decides on what the player should get. It doesn’t have to be either number as the arbitrator can come up with a figure in between and it could be for one or two years.

Arbitration hearings are ugly processes and should be avoided at all costs. The good news is though the deadline for filing is today, the likelihood is they will come to an agreement soon.

Late note: The NHLPA released a full list of players who filed for arbitration and neither Shesterkin or Huska are on the list. That’s good news and means the two sides are talking and are probably close to a deal.

Two UFA’s worth noting

The Rangers had reportedly had interest in Boston Bruins UFA forward Nick Ritchie. Well, he is now Toronto Maple Leaf Nick Ritchie as he has signed a two-year deal with the Leafs for an Average Annual Value (AAV) of $2.5 million. While he could have been seen as a positive addition, with the acquisition of Sammy Blais and signing of Barclay Goodrow, there wasn’t much room for him on the bottom six.

Some Blue Line Station readers had been proposing that the Rangers sign center David Krejci of the Bruins. Though he is 34 years old, he is solid on the faceoff dots and can contribute offensively and could have been a decent stopgap second line center if Ryan Strome was part of a bigger trade.

Not any more as Krejci announced that he is returning to his native Czech Republic to play. After playing 15 years in the NHL, all with the Bruins, it was doubtful that he would have signed with any other NHL team anyway.

The Carolina Rangers

Believe it or not, another former Ranger will be wearing the Carolina Hurricanes uniform. UFA Derek Stepan signed a one-year deal with the Canes, making him the seventh former Ranger on the team.

Stepan joins Brendan Smith, Brady Skjei, Jesper Fast, Antti Raanta, Joey Keane and Tony DeAngelo and is the fourth former Blueshirt UFA to be signed this off-season. Believe it or not, if Keane makes it to the NHL, two thirds of the Carolina defense could be former Rangers. That said, only DeAngelo, Skjei and Fast are key players on the team with the rest in roles as depth players.

More ex-Rangers

Here’s the scoresheet on 2020-21 Rangers who signed with other teams.

Phil Di Giuseppe signed with Vancouver for one-year at $750k.
Defenseman Darren Raddysh is joining his brother Taylor in Tampa for one year and $750k.
Brendan Smith signed with Carolina for one-year at $800k.

Remaining unsigned are defensemen Brandon Crawley, Jack Johnson, Yegor Rykov, Nick DeSimone and forwards Gabriel Fontaine and Patrick Newell. It’s very possible that some of them could be signed by the Hartford Wolf Pack and Rykov is definitely a candidate to stay in the KHL. DeSimone came over in the Brett Howden trade and was never in the Rangers’ plans.

What’s going on with the “nasty” comments?

There’s something going on between Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic (subscription required) and Larry Brooks and Mollie Walker of the New York Post. It may be petty, but there is a subtle war of words going on.

In a look at possible free agent candidates published on July 25, Carpiniello mentioned defenseman Patrik Nemeth and described him this way: “And while Nemeth will use his size to push people aside, to block shots, and to clear the front of the net, the one thing he is absolutely not is nasty. That’s fine, too.”

Then, Brooks broke the story on July 26 that the Rangers were set to sign him. Here’s the headline: ” Rangers expected to sign big, nasty defenseman.” In the story, here’s how Brooks described him: “A veteran of 366 NHL games, the 6-foot-3, 228-pound Nemeth is a big-bodied lefty who plays a simple, stabilizing game, is strong is in own end and will protect the front of the net. He can be a nasty one, blocks shots, has a good stick, can make the first pass and not coincidentally at all, should be a stabilizing influence on his projected third-pair partner and fellow Swede, Nils Lundkvist.”

Then, on July 29, Carpiniello reported on the signing with this description: “Nemeth is a big (6-foot-3, 228 pounds) body who defends well and should be on coach Gerard Gallant’s penalty kill. He is hard to play against because he’s strong around the net front and the walls. But he’s not nasty. Probably a good addition overall.”

On July 31 Mollie Walker of the Post did a story about the team and potential moves. In recapping the transactions already made, she referred to Nemeth as “nasty defenseman Patrik Nemeth. ”

It’s Carpiniello who has emphasized that Nemeth is not a nasty player, contrary to what the Post has said. For those who follow the Rangers closely, it’s a curious choice of words. So, who is right? Is he nasty or not?

Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said that Nemeth “plays hard, he’s extremely physical.” In 2014 when he was called up to the Dallas Stars, he was called a “nasty physical presence.” Considering that the top definition of “nasty” is “disgustingly filthy” and “physically repugnant,” you’d have to go with Carpiniello, but a secondary definition is “difficult to deal with” and in that case, we have to hope that Brooks and company are right. Whatever….

And….

In keeping with our pledge to stop doing speculative stories about Jack Eichel, here are two links to stories if you want to see the latest:

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News has a story about how Eichel’s agents are mishandling him.

Larry Brooks ofthe New York Post has more speculation about salary retention and who could go in a trade.

As we said, it should be the dog days of summer, but it is definitely not for Chris Drury or for Ranger fans,

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