Arthur Kaliyev was a waiver claim by the New York Rangers a few weeks ago. He's spent some time as a healthy scratch, but the man born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, has enjoyed some success with the Rangers. He's been one of the pieces on the periphery for the Rangers. In his short stint in New York, he's made an impact, but the Rangers will be looking to extract ore from the former projected first-round pick that slipped into the second round with the Los Angeles Kings.
In his 11 games with the Rangers, Kaliyev has struck three times and has one assist to his name in the iconic Blueshirt of New York. He's fighting for his place among the regular rotation in the Big Apple, but the Blueshirts need more than that from him if he's going to be a constant factor in the Rangers lineup. New York needs to get more from its bottom six, and Kaliyev is a great example.
With a shot as nasty as his, Kaliyev is expected to put the puck in the net more frequently than he has done. In his 11 games, Kaliyev has mustered just 19 shots. He's shooting at 15.8%, which is well above his career average, so New York will be looking for him to put the puck on net more frequently if they are going to get more from the former Los Angeles Kings forward.
If Kaliyev can fire more pucks on goal, he'll have a better chance of sneaking pucks through the opposing netminders. He's been solid defensively, to the point that only J.T. Miller has a better expected goals against per 60 than Kaliyev. It's been one of the redeeming factors, given his struggles to put the puck towards the goal. Now, we wait and see what the months ahead hold for the Rangers and Kaliyev.