Rangers could look to shore up fourth line at trade deadline
Barclay Goodrow of the Rangers is stopped on a third period scoring chance by Jacob Markstrom of the Flames at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 6. Credit: Jim McIsaac
CALGARY, Alberta – The Rangers have already made their big move before the NHL trade deadline, acquiring the scoring right wing they have been missing all season after GM Chris Drury pulled the trigger on a deal with St. Louis, bringing in Vladimir Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola a full three weeks before the March 3 deadline.
But there are still almost two weeks left before the deadline and, thanks to Drury getting the Blues to retain half of Tarasenko’s salary, the Rangers still have some room under the $82.5 million salary cap – about $1.6 million, according to CapFriendly. So it’s quite likely that Drury will make another move or two.
The way the Rangers are playing now – they were on their second seven-game win streak of the season going into Saturday night’s late game against the desperate Calgary Flames – they don’t look like a team in need of much.
“I've said this before,’’ two-time Stanley Cup winner Barclay Goodrow said last week. “We have a lot of belief in our group, and especially adding two players in Vladdy and ‘Meeks’ that contribute very well to our team… we're playing the way we, I think, are supposed to be playing, and the way we kind of envisioned ourselves playing at the end of the season.’’
Goodrow was one of the players directly affected by the addition of Tarasenko and Mikkola (the others were defensemen Ben Harpur, who lost his lineup spot to Mikkola, and Libor Hajek, who was sent down to Hartford after the trade).
At the time of the trade, Goodrow was playing right wing on the second line, but with Tarasenko added to the mix, Goodrow ended up on the fourth line. He went from averaging just under 15 minutes per game to playing 10:27 in Friday’s 5-4 shootout win over Edmonton.
Most likely, it’s the fourth line, currently Goodrow, center Jake Leschyshyn, and Julien Gauthier, that Drury will be looking to shore up at the deadline if it doesn’t cost too much. Leschyshyn, whom the Rangers claimed off waivers in January, has yet to score a point this season in 33 games for Vegas and the Rangers (entering Saturday). And while Gauthier had six goals in 39 games, he last scored Jan. 7.
The name of speedy winger Tyler Motte, who Drury traded for at last year’s deadline, but couldn’t afford to keep after last season, has been bandied about as a player who might be a good fit. Motte is currently playing for Ottawa, making $1.35 million on a one-year contract, and has three goals and six assists in 38 games. But there are lots of other guys playing on third- and fourth lines on teams around the league who could work as well.
Bottom line, if all Drury has to do is maybe bring in a random fourth-line guy, the Rangers are in pretty good shape.
“I see ourselves as a team that's in the thick of it,’’ Chris Kreider said. “We're in a good place, but we’ve got to continue building on our game and doing the things that allowed us to have success last few games. We can't get away from that.’’
Special teams look better
Special teams are always going to be key for any contending team, and the Rangers’ special teams look a lot better since the addition of Tarasenko, which allowed them to beef up their second power-play unit. The addition of Mikkola adds depth to the penalty kill unit as well.
On Friday, the Rangers went 2-for-4 on the power play against Edmonton, and while the penalty kill allowed two goals to the No. 1 power play in the league, it also produced a pivotal shorthanded goal, by Kreider, and got a crucial stop on a 3-on-4 situation in the final 1:01 of overtime, which allowed the game to get to the shootout.
Mika Zibanejad, whose 5-on-3 goal in the third period tied it 4-4, said Kreider’s shorty, which started the comeback from a 4-1 deficit, was key.
“It's massive,’’ Zibanejad said. “They're first in the league on the power play (and) they had some mojo going in after that first period. And to not just kill it, but to score, I think that that was big for us, and it's a 4-2 game, and then a lot of time left on the clock.’’
For all the concern about the power play, after it went through a relatively dry period in January and early February, the addition of Tarasenko has made a difference. Coach Gerard Gallant put Tarasenko, a left-handed shooter, in the right wing circle on the second unit, dropped Vincent Trocheck to the second unit and promoted Filip Chytil to the first unit. The result is two units that seem a little more balanced, as opposed to having one elite group and one less-than-elite group.
The power play went 2-for-3 in Tarasenko’s first game, and was 5-for-9 in four games with Tarasenko, entering Saturday. Overall, the Rangers power play was 10th in the league (23.2%) entering Saturday.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.