Regarding the Rangers:
1) As a rule, losing is never its own reward. But there might be an exception to that rule, even when it does not involve tanking, and that exception just might apply to the Rangers. Because just the proper amount of losing between now and the finish line likely would benefit the Blueshirts if that lands them the first wild-card spot in the playoffs and thus moves them into the Atlantic Division bracket and away from the Capitals for the first two rounds.
This is nothing that can be planned or even finessed. The difference between the conference’s seventh- and eighth-ranked teams is a point or two. Sliding to eighth, and therefore the second wild-card spot, would mean facing Washington in the first round.
Several teams are bunched just below the Rangers, who not only have to play well enough to lock down a spot, but who play nine of their next 12 games on the road. Four of those games are against teams they trail in the overall standings, starting with the Blues on Thursday and the Stars on Saturday, with four more against teams well within range of New York.
So the Rangers will have to play well in order to win enough to qualify. If that lands them in second or third place in the Metropolitan Division, with (most likely) the Islanders or Penguins up first and the Capitals next, so be it. But if they play well enough to qualify, but slide to fourth in the division while landing in that sweet spot and thus face the task of getting through a combination of Florida/Tampa Bay/Detroit/Boston before facing Washington in round three, well, that wouldn’t be so bad, either.
2) There is no question the Rangers must improve their bottom six in order to get through the grind of the playoffs. As it stands (and has stood all yearin its various permutations), the fourth line isn’t close to good enough to merit significant playoff minutes.
Even if we generously allow that this team is as good as the previous two editions and will start the tournament at the same point as the last two years — which it won’t, if for no other reason than the specter of a conference powerhouse — neither of those teams was good enough to get it done. The Blueshirts need to diversify and add some bulk, as well as a penalty killer to work in the regular rotation.
3) The Rangers won’t be able to put Rick Nash on Long-Term Injured Reserve and simply stow him there to clear the additional $3.27 million of cap space such a maneuver would yield if the winger is going to be able to return with at least a couple of weeks to go in the season that ends six weeks from Saturday.
People will be watching. And the league loves to find reason to sanction the franchise. But if Nash — out since Jan. 22 with a bone bruise not nearly as benign as it originally sounded — is not projected to return before then, the Blueshirts would be foolish not to pursue the move leading up to the deadline. He would need a couple of weeks to get up to speed, anyway.
4) Pavel Buchnevich’s Saint Petersburg club is tied 1-1 in its KHL first-round, best-of-seven series against Lokomotiv. If SKA is eliminated in five games, the Blueshirts’ 19-year-old prospect’s season would be over on Monday. But even if that is the case, and even if the winger would be able to gain his release from his contract that runs through May 1, there is no guarantee the Rangers immediately would pursue him because signing him would burn the first season of his three-year Entry Level contract. Plus, it is unlikely he would be able to provide the instant help the Rangers require.
Buchnevich dressed, but did not play a second for Sergei Zubov’s team in Game 1. In Game 2, after team captain Ilya Kovalchuk had been sent home ,— we’re told the move was ordered by a much higher authority than Zubov — Buchnevich got 6:23 and an assist before he was ejected in conjunction with a slashing major early in the third period.
5) Rule 46.15, under which J.T. Miller received a match penalty on Tuesday for cutting New Jersey’s Sergey Kalinin’s in a fight while wearing tape below his wrist, is straightforward enough. But Kalinin was also taped below the wrist. In other words, Miller was penalized because he won the fight. The rule should be changed so that a match penalty does not apply if both combatants are so taped.