Few Rangers are talked about less, but do more for the team than Jesper Fast (Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke)

Few Rangers are talked about less, but do more for the team than Jesper Fast (Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke)

– The Rangers are going to lose a good player to expansion, but I sure hope it’s not Jesper Fast. He may never score 20 goals, but Fast is exactly what you want in a modern day depth winger. Fast is ferocious in all aspects of the game. He’s aggressive on both the forecheck and backcheck, tenacious on the penalty kill and always gives his all in his own zone. Time and again Fast has been up to the task when he’s been moved up and down the lineup due to injury. Fast is just a selfless player that does all the little things right – he continues to remind me of Ryan Callahan. Alain Vigneault gets made fun of for it all the time, but it’s easy to see why he loves “Quickie.”

– Last night’s result was probably the best Vigneault could have hoped for regarding the Rangers goalie controversy. Antti Raanta finally lost, so Vigneault can justifiably turn back to Henrik Lundqvist on Thursday night without Raanta breathing down his neck. Yet Raanta still remains in a groove, so Vigneault can continue to mix him in regularly until Lundqvist settles back into his normal workload. Best of all, the Blueshirts once again played well in front of their netminder and seem to have rediscovered some good habits that should make things easier on The King.

– So the Rangers originally said Pavel Buchnevich had a clean MRI when he went on his core-strengthening hiatus, but now Larry Brooks reports that Buch was diagnosed with a protruding disc at the start of his rehab regimen. That injury obviously ranges in severity, but I will be very curious to see how long this lingers. Buchnevich’s anticipated two-to-three week absence is now well into its fifth week…

– I wasn’t thrilled to lose Josh Jooris for nothing on waivers. Oscar Lindberg’s improved play pushed Jooris out of the lineup, but when healthy Jooris certainly looked the part of a capable NHL player. I would rather have Jooris as the extra forward then a guy like Nicklas Jensen, who has shown virtually nothing. Jooris has struggled to stay healthy, but he proved he could skate with this team.

– Very quietly Pittsburgh passed New York over the weekend for the status of league’s best offense after the Penguins drubbed the Coyotes 7-0. Columbus and Philadelphia are closing in, too. The Blue Jackets are also now just one behind the Blueshirts for best-goal differential.

– That was a big, big goal for Brandon Pirri on Sunday. He’s in the lineup to contribute on the power play, but without righty Mika Zibanejad feeding him across the slot, Pirri had been rendered basically useless. His spot in the lineup is safe while the team is banged up, but for Pirri to maintain a regular position in the coming weeks he will need to light the lamp.

– Jimmy Vesey is a pure power forward. Chris Kreider has the strength, but is more successful off the rush. Same with Rick Nash. But Vesey – he makes his living parked right in front of the net. Vesey is already 23 years old so he’s more physically mature than most rookies, but he still has plenty of room to add muscle. He’s already a load, and completely fearless.

– Speaking of Kreider, I thought Joe Micheletti made an interesting remark about #20 during Sunday night’s telecast. Kreider got called for a joke of an interference penalty when he was shoved into Cory Schneider and Micheletti shared his theory that Kreider is still trying to figure out how to play in his body. Everyone is aware of Kreider’s consistency issues, but one of the real challenges for the 25-year-old has been learning to harness his strength to match his speed. It’s one thing to have blazing wheels and be light on your skates – like a Carl Hagelin – and it’s another to match that speed with Wayne Simmonds’ strength. Kreider’s unique physical tools, combined with the pressure that built from his early success and pedigree, plus his own intelligence, makes for quite the combination. They always say “don’t think, just play,” but that’s not quite so easy when you’re in Kreider’s skates.

– The strict line and pairing labels we still use to describe players’ talent levels are as antiquated as the plus/minus statistic, but Brady Skjei looks like he’s going to far exceed expectations. The scouting report on Skjei was typically that he could skate like the wind and was sound defensively, but not all that dynamic a player. But in his rookie year we’ve learned that Skjei brings far more to the table as a wonderful passer and poised puck carrier. Whether he settles in on the “top pair” or not is irrelevant – Skjei is a tremendous building block for the defense of the future.


Question time:
1) Which NHL defenseman would you compare Skjei’s game to?
2) Of the fill-in forwards recently inserted to the lineup, which do you think will play the biggest role the rest of the season?
3) On a scale of 1-10, what’s your concern level over Buchnevich’s injury?

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