TRADING BLOWS
AV: Deal mandate has been rough on Rangers with deadline looming
By the time the Rangers take the ice in Montreal on Thursday night, there will only be about 92 hours left of skating on eggshells.
Ever since management let it be known on Feb. 8 that it would be open for business — for deals focused on the long-term, not saving this season — there has been a feeling of uncertainty for the Blueshirts, not knowing what teammate might be in the room one day and gone the next.
The first shoe finally dropped Tuesday when they sent defenseman Nick Holden to the Bruins in exchange for blueliner Rob O’Gara and a 2018 thirdround draft pick. And while they wait for the next deal to be made — potentially involving Rick Nash, Michael Grabner or even Ryan McDonagh — the Rangers still have three games left to play before Monday’s trade deadline.
“It’s tough to really express what’s going on right now,” coach Alain Vigneault said after Wednesday’s practice. “This is a little awkward, in the sense that we came out and we said it. A lot of times teams do it but don’t say it. So it makes it a little bit more challenging as far as team dynamics.”
Since the white flag was officially raised — in the form of a letter to fans and a press conference from general manager Jeff Gorton and president Glen Sather — the Rangers are 24-0. They had lost four straight games in regulation leading into the announcement, and now enter Thursday’s game against the Canadiens on another four-game skid. Before this month, they hadn’t dropped four straight in regulation since 2011.
As much as Vigneault has said it’s on the players and coaches to ignore the noise around them and focus on their play, that has proved to be easier said than done.
“That’s just part of the job,” defenseman Brady Skjei said. “You just accept it, come every day and do your part. We’ll see what happens here in the next few weeks.”
Even though they knew changes were on the way, players said that didn’t make it easier seeing Holden go. The 30-yearold had been with the team since June 2016, playing 135 games.
“It’s tough,” said Marc Staal, who was paired with Holden for most of last season. “Honestly, he’s become a good friend over the last few years and he’s got a great family. He was a great guy in our room and for our team. It was hard. Obviously we knew things were coming, so it wasn’t that much of a shock but it’s still hard to see friends go.”
The players aren’t the only ones facing uncertainty. On the day Gorton and Sather sent out the letter, they were asked if Vigneault would be back next season, with two more years left on his contract. Gorton didn’t want to answer.
“I don’t want the speculation out there,” Gorton said at the time, seemingly creating more speculation.
To make matters even more challenging, the Rangers’ For Sale sign was put up in the midst of their injury list growing larger, leaving the room without veteran voices such as McDonagh, Staal, Kevin Shattenkirk and Chris Kreider.
There may be relief coming in that area, just in time for other moves to be made. Staal will be back in the lineup Thursday, Kreider could play as soon as Friday and Shattenkirk and McDonagh are both skating again.
“At the end of the day, we got three games here before the trade deadline ends and we all gotta focus, we all gotta be pros as players and coaches,” Vigneault said. “That’s what we’re going to do.”