OPTIONS OPEN
With AV out, Rangers will leave no stone unturned in coaching search
REGARDING the Rangers, who within 11 months have shed one head coach and 11 players from the team that lost last year’s second round to the Senators:
1. If Sheldon Keefe is at or near the top of Jeff Gorton’s list of candidates to replace Alain Vigneault behind the bench, the general manager is likely in for a long wait before he fills the position.
Keefe, who spent about three weeks with the Rangers at the start of 2003-04 without ever dressing for a game between being claimed from Tampa Bay in the waiver draft and then going back to the Lightning on waivers, has led the Toronto Marlies to the AHL’s best regular-season record with a week remaining in the season.
If his team advances to the Calder Cup finals, Keefe wouldn’t become available until the first or second week of June. That would give Gorton the opportunity to check in with pretty much everyone on his list before getting to Keefe, who has coached — and developed — a sizeable number of current Leafs, including William Nylander, Zach Hyman, Kasperi Kapanen, Connor Brown and Andreas Johnsson.
Though the Blueshirts will require the Maple Leafs’ permission to interview Keefe, it is im- possible to imagine the scenario under which Toronto’s administration would deny the request. With Mike Babcock in place behind the NHL bench, it is hardly as if the 37-year-old Keefe could expect to ascend to that position in the foreseeable future.
2. Noted this in Sunday’s editions, but if Columbus dismisses John Tortorella, a reunion would intrigue the Rangers. If the Capitals decide to fire Barry Trotz, still without a contract for next season, he would certainly become a person of interest at the Garden.
3. No, Vigneault was not necessarily fired over his usage of Pavel Buchnevich or J.T. Miller, but the stalled development of essentially every young player did not go unnoticed by Gorton, who is holding a press conference Monday.
4. The Rangers talked to Marty St. Louis about taking over the AHL Wolf Pack upon his retirement, The Post has learned, but the time wasn’t right for the winger. Had he gone to Hartford, St. Louis would be a leading contender for the job in New York. He’s likely on the radar for an assistant’s spot if he wants it.
5. The Blueshirts have two impending arbitration-eligible restricted free agents one season away from unrestricted status in Kevin Hayes and Ryan Spooner. Vladislav Namestnikov and Jimmy Vesey are impending arb-eligible free agents who would have two years before hitting the open market.
Hayes, who recorded 25 goals while centering the line Vigneault matched against the opposition’s top guns, will either get a four- or five-year contract for between $4.5 million and $5.25 million per, or he will become the centerpiece of a trade for a desperately needed toppair right defenseman.
There is no doubting the value of the 6-foot-5 center, who will turn 26 next month. He scored 25 goals despite limited duty on the power play until the deadline. Indeed, through the first 60 games, Hayes received the ninth-most man-advantage time of club forwards with a sum of 48:27. David Desharnais clocked in at 96:31 over that same period.
The only question is whether Hayes has more value to the organization in the middle for the Rangers or as a trade chip on a team that has few of value.
6. The decision on Spooner centers on whether the Rangers would keep him on a one-year deal for what is likely to be an arbitration award in the $3.7 million-$4.1 million range so they could wheel him as a deadline rental, or whether the club would set him free by declining to offer a qualifier.
If the Rangers qualify Spooner and he goes to arbitration, the Rangers can’t walk away from the award unless it’s over approximately $4.4 million.
7. Rangers defensemen scored a total of 11 five-onfive goals, the fewest in the NHL. That is a sickly number, with the Sabres (13) and Canucks (16) the only other teams to score fewer than 21. Indeed, 15 clubs got between 21 and 26 goals at full and even strength from defensemen. The Lightning led the league with 38 while the Blue Jackets and Coyotes each posted 35.
8. This was bizarre. John Gilmour, a superior skater who made things happen with the puck on his stick even if he tended to be an adventure in his own end, got 32:28 of powerplay time in his first 20 games. Over the last seven games, the rookie got 19 seconds on the man-advantage.
9. Vigneault’s postgame performance in Philly is kind of Dick Nixon’s “You Won’t Have Nixon to Kick Around Anymore” press conference following his defeat in California’s 1962 gubernatorial race … if there were no video of Nixon.