Kravtsov & Barron to the AHL as roster is finalized

It’s all about waivers as the New York Rangers made their final roster moves before the start of the new season.  The team sent Vitali Kravtsov and Morgan Barron to Hartford, getting their roster down to the maximum 23 players.  That means that Dryden Hunt, Jarred Tinordi, Julien Gauthier and Libor Hajek made the cut.  It’s no coincidence that all four would have to clear waivers to go to the AHL while Kravtsov and Barron are waivers exempt.

Of the four players retained, the one sure thing had been Jarred Tinordi who had earned the job of seventh defenseman.  Julien Gauthier had played well despite being unable to put the puck in the net while Hunt had done what was expected and Hajek barely got a look.

For Kravtsov, the demotion has to be a disappointment.  He had suffered a minor injury in the preseason that kept him out of a few games, but in the last exhibition he had scored a power play goal. Now he is going back to Hartford, the team he left to return to Russia after a bizarre dispute over playing time and his physical conditioning.   After he left in October 2019, he did return to the Wolf Pack later that season.

Why waivers are important?

Players that have to clear waivers can be claimed by any of the other 31 NHL teams.  That’s how Mason Geertsen ended up on the Devils after he was waived by the Rangers.   While most players clear waivers, of the dozens of players put on waivers, five were claimed by other teams.

One reason that Chris Drury may be leery of placing Gauthier and Hajek on waivers is the likelihood that he would lose them for nothing.   Ron Francis of the Seattle Kraken drafted Gauthier in the first round 2016 and it was the subsequent Hurricanes regime that traded him to the Rangers.   Steve Yzerman drafted Hajek in the second round the same year when he was with Tampa and he could pluck him off the waiver wire for the Red Wings.

Both Gauthier and Hajek could be solid additions for those teams and they still have an upside for the future.

Hunt and Tinordi would be more likely to clear waivers, but they bring something to the Rangers that they need in terms of physical play.

Incidentally, Greg McKegg had cleared waivers and was brought up to play in the final exhibition game and was sent back to Hartford today.  He didn’t have to clear waivers a second time.

It’s a short term move

The likelihood is that we will see Kravtsov and Barron back in the NHL sooner than later.  Their waiver-exempt status means that they can easily be brought up in case of injury and in the case of Kravtsov, he could be in Hartford for just a few games.  It’s clear the Rangers are looking for muscle in their opener versus the Capitals, thus the reason they kept the more physical Hunt and demoted the finesse player, Kravtsov.

The other option for Drury is that he has had some trade interest in Hajek or Gauthier and he is working to finalize a deal.  It may take a few weeks of the regular season before another team will need a young blueliner like Hajek so he is likely to stick around.

An honor for Lundkvist

These roster moves means that there is only one rookie on the roster and that is defenseman Nils Lundkvist. He was named the recipient of the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award for best rookie in training camp as selected by the media.   Lundkvist led all Ranger rookies in scoring with three assists and won the starting job on the third defense pairing.

Lars-Erik Sjöberg was the chief European scout for the Rangers for eight years and was responsible for drafting many young players like Tomas Sandstrom, Jan Erixon and Ulf Dahlen. After he died of cancer at age 43 in 1987, the top rookie award was named in his honor.

The last Swedish player to win the award was Lias Andersson in 2018 and the last winner was Adam Fox in 2019.   With no training camp games last season, the award was not given out.

The Zibanejad deal

Blue Line Station conducted an unscientific poll when the Mika Zibanejad deal was announced.  The reaction was overwhelmingly positive.

96% of respondents were positive about the deal, though 36% were concerned with the eight-year term.  Only 3.8% or five of the 132 respondents said that the contract was a mistake.

A busy final day

Though the Rangers don’t play until Wednesday, the NHL season officially begins on Tuesday so all rosters had to be finalized by 5pm EST Monday.   It’s been a busy day with the surprising announcement that there will be no team captain this season and that they are going with the rotation of six alternate captains, an increase from the four the team named the last two seasons. In 2018-19, the team had five alternate captains (until Mats Zuccarello was traded).

With Zibanejad signing his new contract on Sunday,  the news we are waiting on will be who will be in the starting lineup for the Rangers on Wednesday night with the health of Ryan Reaves (lower body) and Ryan Strome (upper body) the question marks.