With the trade deadline less than a week away, the Rangers will host the Ducks who will continue to be sellers for the next six days (7:00 P.M. EST, MSG).
Rangers | NHL Rankings | Ducks |
37-17-5 | Record | 27-25-10 |
6th | NHL Standing Rank | 19th |
18th | GF/PG | 21st |
3rd | GA/PG | 19th |
2nd | PP% | 8th |
8th | PK% | 6th |
NHL Trade Deadline
With the trade deadline less than six days away, the Rangers are expected to be buyers and in on just about every player who is available. The Blueshirts have by far the most cap space available and could easily afford to bring in five or six players if they chose to pay the price. Realistically, the Rangers will probably bring in no more than three. It’s clear the Rangers need help at even strength and brining in a couple forwards could help address their weakness. Expect General Manager Chris Drury to target middle-six forwards who can play on the second and third line.
Some names who make more sense than others include Paul Stastny, Tomas Hertl, J.T. Miller, Phil Kessel, Rickard Rakell and Andrew Copp. Other names that are less likely to land on Broadway include Claude Giroux, Jake DeBrusk, and Conor Garland.
The interesting name for today is Rakell who just so happens to be on the Ducks – Tuesday night’s opponent. Rakell is currently on the last year of his contract before he would be an unrestricted free agent. The Swedish Native would help reshape the Blueshirts middle-six and would probably be given a third-line role to start. Rakell has 28 points on the season and can play both left and right wing.
The other area the Rangers could be interested in addressing is add a veteran defenseman. Candidates include Ben Chiarot, Hampus Lindholm, Mark Giordano, Colin Miller, and Calvin De Haan. Chiarot is the name the Blueshirts have been linked with the most but ultimately acquiring a defenseman would be a luxury more than a necessity given the Blueshirts depth with young defensemen such as Zac Jones and Nils Lundkvist.
Two names who could be on the way out for the Blueshirts is Libor Hajek and Alex Georgiev. It’s been no secret that the Blueshirts have tried to move Hajek since before the season began but haven’t found any takers. Hajek has played in just 16 games this season and has one point to go along with a minus seven.
Georgiev on the other hand is an interesting case. The 26-year-old will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season which gives the Rangers control over the situation. Georgiev is currently the team’s backup goaltender but he has struggled in this role. The Bulgarian-born netminder has shown in the past he is a capable goaltender when given a heavier workload. But playing once every couple of weeks or so has not been to his benefit. There are a few playoff-bound teams (and teams fighting for a spot) that have some question marks in goal and could opt to take a chance on Georgiev. Teams to keep an eye on include: the Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Minnesota Wild. Minnesota is the least likely to make a move but the recent play of Cam Talbot has been very worrying.
Rangers
The Blueshirts enter Tuesday’s game coming off a 7-4 win over the Dallas Stars. After practice on Monday, head coach Gerard Gallant told the media that both Kaapo Kakko and Kevin Rooney are still not exactly ready and it could be over a week until they return to skating. This would mean the earliest either could be available would be in two weeks’ time which also seems unlikely. The unavailability of Kakko and Rooney will put further pressure on Drury to bring in a couple of players before Monday’s deadline.
One area the Blueshirts will be looking to address for Tuesday night’s game is not allowing multiple goals in the first period. In each of the past three games, the Blueshirts have allowed at least two goals and have found themselves trailing 2-0 at some point in each of those games.
Expect Igor Shesterkin to get the start in net for the Blueshirts. Shesterkin’s last two starts haven’t gone according to plan as he looks to get back on track. Shesterkin allowed four goals in each of his past two starts which has been his toughest stretch of the season. It hasn’t been his fault as many of the goals have been A+ scoring chances but he will be looking for a confidence booster against the Ducks.
Ducks
Anaheim enters Tuesday’s game having already begun their selling. On Monday evening, the Ducks traded defenseman Josh Manson to the Colorado Avalanche for a second-round pick and a prospect. Manson was just the first name to go as many expect Rakell and Lindholm to follow given that contract negotiations have come to a halt.
Rakell is expected to remain sidelined with the upper-body injury. The 28-year-old also missed the team’s previous game against the Islanders.
The Ducks will also be without Ryan Getzlaf who is out with a lower-body injury. Ducks head coach Dallas Eakins hoped he would have Getzlaf and Rakell available against the Rangers but neither will play a factor. The Ducks will also be without Max Jones and Jakob Silverberg.
While Anaheim will be missing some of their key forwards, the Ducks still have Trevor Zegras who is one of the most entertaining players in the league despite being a rookie. Zegras grew up a Rangers fan and was in attendance for Derek Stepan’s overtime-winning goal against the Capitals in game seven. Zegras currently has 44 points on the season and will have to help carry the load on offense.
Key to the Game
With Anaheim missing many of their top forwards, the key to the game will be shutting down Zegras and Troy Terry. Terry is also having a breakout season with 51 points. Terry and Zegras are the only two players in Anaheim with more than 40 points.
Projected Lineup
Kreider-Zibanejad-Lafreniere
Panarin-Strome-Hunt
Goodrow-Chytil-Gauthier
McKegg-Brodzinski-Reaves
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Nemeth-Schneider
Shesterkin