SILET TIME
Rangers bring back Namestnikov, but otherwise quiet in market
The roster features a decent amount of skill but a striking absence of jam. That is the imbalance general manager Jeff Gorton must address as the Rangers move forward into this rebuilding 2018-19.
Signing Day came and went without the Blueshirts making more than the teeniest ripple on the free-agent market. Defenseman Fredrik Claesson, late of the Senators, signed on for a no-risk, one-year sum of $700,000, but he’s another marginal lefty and another finesseoriented guy, to boot, even if he can play the right side. A slim picking.
The Rangers did move in atypically quick fashion to re-up restricted free agent Vladislav Namestnikov before he had the opportunity to file for salary arbitration. Namestnikov, stuck in a pretty miserable situation upon joining what was left of the varsity at the deadline in the Ryan McDonagh/J.T. Miller deal after spending all year in Tampa Bay skating with Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, is in for two years at $4 million per.
Gorton did not sign Namestnikov in order to trade him. The plan is for No. 90 to open on the wing while leaving open the possibility he could shift into the middle if Filip Chytil and/or Lias Andersson need more time to develop in the AHL. The 25-year-old, who recorded 44 points (20 goals, 24 assists) in 62 games in Tampa Bay before posting four points in 19 contests while bouncing around the lineup for New York, represents a pretty good insurance policy. He will be given ice time and responsibility.
Namestnikov’s signing probably means the end for Ryan Spooner, the salary arbitration-eligible restricted free-agent winger who put up 16 points (4-12) in 20 games after coming to Broadway from Boston in the deadline-proximate deal for Rick Nash. The question is whether Gorton will seek (or be able) to bring back a more robust roster player in his place or whether the GM will look to get a draft pick as the exchange. If the latter, the Rangers would do well if it’s as high as a secondrounder.
If the Rangers are interested in making a move to materially alter the roster’s dynamic, they would have to deal either Mika Zibanejad or Kevin Hayes, the latter a salary-arbitration restricted free agent one year away from hitting the open market. Winnipeg has a hole in the middle after losing Paul Stastny to free agency, but we’re told the Jets have no interest in dealing top-pair restricted free-agent righty defenseman Jacob Trouba to New York as part of a deal for either of the aforementioned centers.
The Rangers are staying the course and are prepared for what may immediately lay ahead, but they cannot send lambs out onto the ice to the slaughter, either. That would be counterproductive to the program. Adding grit and physical toughness is of the essence.
There were obviously no errors of commission on Sunday. It was, however, somewhat surprising the team wasn’t willing to outbid Arizona for 25-year-old energy winger Tobias Rieder, who went to Edmonton on a one-year, $2 million deal. Not that a Rieder would be determinative in any sense, but the Rangers need guys who not only have a nose for the net, but who will drive to the blue paint.
Maybe Jimmy Vesey, about as blue collar a Blueshirt as there is at the moment will provide that element on a consistent basis with David Quinn behind the bench after a disappointing sophomore run under Alain Vigneault. The Rangers, of course, have to sign Vesey, also a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.