For all you Braden Schneider fans….he’s here

The New York Rangers made some roster moves on Tuesday, sending Nils Lundkvist to Hartford and moving Tarmo Reunanen and Tyler Wall from the Taxi Squad to Hartford.  In a move that many Ranger fans were hoping for, they promoted 20-year old Braden Schneider to the NHL roster.

The Taxi squad changes were predictable.   Igor Shesterkin is about to come off the COVID protocol list and that means Keith Kinkaid will be returned to the Taxi Squad.   Zac Jones remains on the Taxi Squad along with forward Lauri Pajuniemi.

The Rangers have carried eight defensemen all season and they are all healthy so they have two spare blueliners every game.  They have no spare forwards, with 12 on the active roster.  Ryan Reaves and Barclay Goodrow remain on the COVID list.

The big move is the swap of Lundkvist for Schneider.  In making the move the Rangers sent a smaller, slick skating offensive blueliner to Hartford in exchange for Schneider who is considered a more defensively-oriented physical player with a mean streak.  Both are right shots so it is an even trade of positional players.

For Nils Lundkvist, he has been playing irregularly and getting some heavy minutes in Hartford will only be good for him.

The question for Thursday night is who will play defense.  While the Adam Fox – Ryan Lindgren twosome is set and Jacob Trouba isn’t going anywhere,  there is a question of whether they will give K’Andre Miller a night off after making two costly mistakes that led to opposition goals.  Since making the varsity last season, Miller has played in 90 of 93 games and hasn’t missed a game this season.  That said, it’s unlikely that he will sit.

The duo of Patrik Nemeth and Jarred Tinordi were not great on Monday night and the question is whether Jarred Tinordi will get another shot or will Schneider replace him on the third pair with Nemeth.

About Braden Schneider

Braden Schneider was drafted in the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.  The Rangers had targeted him and they traded up to get him. They thought so highly of him that they gave Calgary the 22nd overall pick and a third round pick (#72) to move up three slots to the 19th overall pick.

Schneider had played three seasons for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL and was highly rated by all of the experts.  NHL Central Scouting had this to say about him before the draft. “Displays a strong presence on the ice. Makes big hits in all three zones. Strong on his skates and hard to knock off the puck. Used in all situations. Likes to join the rush using deceptive speed. A complete package on the blueline who can control a game.”

He’s got good size at 6’2″. 210 pounds.

His offense really picked up last season in the WHL as he was point-a-game player for the first time in his career. This season in Hartford, he has nine assists and is looking for his first goal in 24 games.

But will he play?

The Rangers had the day off on Tuesday and will be back to practice on Wednesday.  That’s when we’ll get to hear from Kris Knoblauch and get a hint at what the lineup will look like in San Jose. It’s hard to believe that they bought Schneider up without the intent to use him.

One thing to remember is that Gallant coached Schneider at the IIHF World Championships last year.  Schneider played in nine games for the gold medal winning Canadian team. Gallant likes to use players he is familiar with.

In that case, one wonders how long a rope Gerard Gallant will give the Nemeth/Tinordi duo.  They looked awfully slow against the fast transition offense of the Los Angeles Kings and they should see more of the same from the Sharks.

Finally, Igor Shesterkin entered the COVID protocol on January 6 and Wednesday will make five full days. It took Artemi Panarin seven days to get off the list so it is possible that Shesterkin will be reinstated for Saturday’s game in Philadelphia.

So, it’s wait and see until we hear from Gerard Gallant’s alter ego, Kris Knoblauch about expectations for the Sharks game.