I don’t believe Alain Vigneault should feel threatened by Lindy Ruff’s anticipated, if not imminent, addition to the coaching staff in place of Jeff Beukeboom, but it also would be silly not to infer Ruff would be next in line when a change at the top ultimately is made.
It is always a matter of “when” — isn’t it? — but don’t forget it was only a few months ago ownership extended the Rangers head coach’s contract through 2019-20. Adding Ruff’s veteran eyes to the staff only can bolster the Blueshirts’ decision-making process on and off the ice.
And Vigneault, who met with Ruff, is an enthusiastic supporter of the move.
With Derek Stepan’s trade following Dan Girardi’s buyout, Vigneault has lost both the center and right defenseman he relentlessly matched against opponents’ top lines. At the moment, there is no one on the roster to fill either void.
The Blueshirts, we understand, did attempt to deal with Dallas to move up to the three-hole in the draft, where they presumably would have selected dynamic defenseman Cale Makar, but could not pull it off.
I left the season with the sense the Blueshirts likely would have to deal J.T. Miller or Chris Kreider in order to get a top-pair right defenseman, and later thought Stepan might be enough to do the trick, but his contract proved to be a non-starter for everyone other than the Coyotes.
So now we’re back to square one: Would — or could — the team sacrifice one of its top two young guns up front to get a top-pair defenseman? And with questions down the middle, would it be at all wise to even consider dealing Miller, who might be called upon to move to center, if not to start the year, then in case of injury?
Ch-ch-changes: Including Kevin Klein, just 10 players from the 2015 Presidents’ Trophy winners remain on the Blueshirts’ roster.
It is unknown whether Joe Thornton — who underwent postseason surgery to repair the torn left MCL and ACL, through which he played the final four games of the playoffs — would have any interest in coming to New York to hook up with his buddy, and one-time Team Canada linemate, Rick Nash on a one-year commitment if he leaves San Jose after 12 seasons.
But expect general manager Jeff Gorton to check in on the impending free-agent center, who will turn 38 on July 2.
There is no one with more pressure to step up his game in the wake of Stepan’s departure than Kevin Hayes.
It is likely an unpopular opinion and perhaps a far-fetched option if New Jersey GM Ray Shero attempts to hold up the Rangers for ransom, but I would love to see Ilya Kovalchuk wearing the Blueshirt next year, and beyond.
For not only do the Rangers lack a first-line center and first-pair right D (and will lack a top-four right D if they cannot keep Brendan Smith), they lack a game-changer and game-breaker. Kovalchuk would take care of that.
At the end of the day, the Islanders effectively traded Travis Hamonic, Ryan Strome, Mikhail Grabovski, Jake Bischer, J-F Berube, a first-rounder this year and a fourth-rounder down the line in exchange for Jordan Eberle, a first next year, a second in two years and a net gain of $5.357 million in cap space.
Which leaves GM Garth Snow still with oodles of assets to wheel for immediate aid and comfort for John Tavares, who is proving to be one of the most loyal and patient players in pro sports.
Is it worth mentioning (again) that Snow used his fifth-overall on Strome (who went to Edmonton for Eberle) in 2011 when Mark Scheifele, Sean Couturier, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Brodin were on the board and that the GM used his fourth overall on Griffin Reinhart (who previously went to the Oilers for a first and second) in 2012 when Morgan Rielly, Hampus Lindholm, Matt Dumba, Jacob Trouba and Filip Forsberg were there for the taking?
Nah.
On the day of Game 1 of the Cup final, Gary Bettman said the offside coach’s challenge had worked “exactly as intended” during its first year of operation, which is tantamount to suggesting the Rangers’ defense against the extra attacker had worked “exactly as intended” against the Senators.
Three weeks later, though, the commissioner apparently changed his mind, for we’re told it is Bettman who is the driving force to assess teams with minor penalties rather than with a timeout for incorrect offside challenges.
It is a suggestion as idiotic as the concept of the offside challenge itself. Linesmen more often than not cannot be sure whether infractions occurred after four or five minutes of studying video, but coaches are now charged with having to be sure in the 30 seconds or so after a goal is scored?
Safe apparently will continue to mean death in Columbus. For after acquiring world-class skill forward Artemi Panarin from Chicago in exchange for Brandon Saad, who somehow spent a fair amount of time on coach John Tortorella’s fourth line, the Jackets are expected to be all in on Kovalchuk, too.
We’re told Bettman was needed to intervene in the discussions between owner Andrew Barroway and outgoing coach Dave Tippett, who apparently agreed to leave up to $10 million on the table to secure his exit.
It was just a year ago that Tippett was able to use his influence with the then-majority ownership to force GM Don Maloney out the door.
As sand through the hourglass, shifting winds, and all that.
What does 30-year-old T.J. Oshie’s eight-year, $46 million contract extension mean? It means he will become a Washington amnesty buyout following Owners’ Lockout IV.