Nicklas Jensen has been out of his mind at the IIHF World Championships
– A major reason for the Rangers’ struggles defensively that was astutely pointed out by Rick Carpiniello was the disinterest in playing on that side of the puck by so many of the team’s top forwards. Whereas in the past the Blueshirts have had Ryan Callahan, Carl Hagelin, Brian Boyle, Brandon Dubinsky, etc. playing key roles and devoting just as much attention to their own end, this season a host of forwards including Derick Brassard, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, Kevin Hayes, and at times JT Miller were no-shows in their own zone. They didn’t do Dan Girardi, Marc Staal and co. any favors by botching their assignments so regularly.
– Oscar Lindberg’s surgery was a real curveball. Lindberg’s dirt cheap $650k cap hit is a hugely important piece of the puzzle heading forward given the Blueshirts’ cap woes and expected push towards youth, but now they’ll have to plan around his absence for the first month of the season. Given Nicklas Jensen’s outstanding showing at the World Championships and similar cap hit, Lindberg’s injury may have granted Jensen a regular spot to lose at camp.
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– It’s always interesting to see how the postseason affects the price tags of pending free agents. This year’s class is underwhelming to put it nicely, but several players really boosted their value with strong showings in the playoffs. David Backes is 32 years old and had become a bit of a secondary player in the Blues’ offense, but he has 13 points in 15 games this spring and has come up huge in key spots. Alex Goligoski was probably the top D-man available heading into the playoffs already, but he shined brighter than Dallas’s top puck distributor, John Klingberg, and was a critical two-way force. Depth players like Troy Brouwer, Patrick Eaves and Jamie McGinn also stand to really profit from their recent play. On the flip side, guys like Eric Staal, Dale Weise and Kris Russell that probably thought they were poised to cash in saw their value take a huge hit.
– Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, Pittsburgh should make every effort to begin next year with Matt Murray as its starter in net. The goalie market this summer is shaping up to be odd, with several quality starters available and only a few jobs to go around. But with Murray clearly established the Penguins should to try to move Marc-Andre Fleury’s $5.75 million cap hit. Pittsburgh could likely get a couple of futures for MAF and use some of that extra cash to bolster its blueline with one more solid piece.
– Funny how quickly things change once teams are eliminated. It was widely thought that Ottawa might move RFA Mike Hoffman this offseason after his continuous clashes with coach Dave Cameron, but with Hoffman’s former QMJHL coach Guy Boucher brought in as Cameron’s replacement, a split now seems extremely unlikely. Similarly the Wild seemed poised to fall off the map with a pile of dead weight veterans clogging up the cap – but now that Bruce Boudreau is behind the bench, pundits are predicting a big bounce back on the strength of the new head man, alone.
– There have been several whispers about the Rangers bringing in another Russian player to serve as a mentor for Pavel Buchnevich as the prized prospect acclimates to America. Forgotten Rangers prospect Pavel Valentenko appears to be one possibility, while some of the Euro experts among the Ranger fan community are clamoring for Vadim Shipachev or Evgeny Dadonov. I have no objections towards rolling the dice on any of the three, but I expect the Rangers might prefer a Russian that has enjoyed a longer run of NHL success and could be trusted to show Buchnevich the ropes on what it takes to become a veteran in the NHL. Both Valentenko and Dadonov returned to their homeland after things didn’t work out in North America and I’m not sure that’s the message New York’s front office wants Buchnevich to receive given the rookie has an out-clause that allows him to return to Russia if he doesn’t make the Rangers out of camp. A guy like Nikita Nikitin might make more sense, as Josh suggested.
– Pretty interesting question raised by Larry Brooks, “do you think [Stars GM Jim Nill] might want a do-over for getting out of the Cam Talbot sweepstakes when it was time to step up last June?” It’s still a bit mystifying to look back at the Talbot trade negotiations and understand what happened. There was apparently at one point a first-round pick on the table and as many as four clubs (Edmonton, Florida, Dallas and San Jose) snapping at Talbot’s heels and yet the Blueshirts landed just second-, third- and seventh-round picks for the young goalie. Missing out on Talbot worked out just fine for the Panthers and Sharks, but Brooks is probably right that the Stars are regretting that one big time.
– Three of the four remaining teams were in a similar spot to the Rangers over the last couple offseasons and all of the Penguins, Blues and Sharks chose to retool around their existing core group of players rather than blow up their rosters with dynamite. That’s pretty strong proof that the Blueshirts can return to the league’s elite class with some shrewd rejiggering.
– As an animal lover, I can’t get enough of the Jo Pawvelski story.
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Question time:
1. Which free agents do you have your eye on?
2. What are your expectations for Pavel Buchnevich as a rookie?
3. What do you think the Rangers can learn from the final four teams left?
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