Rangers may be 2 skaters short vs. B’s
There will be no supplemental discipline for the Senators’ Austin Watson, whose dirty hit on the Rangers’ Tyler Motte knocked the forward out of the game Thursday night, and the Blueshirts’ roster could continue to suffer.
If Motte is unable to play Saturday afternoon in Boston and Ryan Lindgren is still nursing his own upperbody injury, the Rangers could be forced to take the ice with two fewer players than usual (16 skaters instead of the normal 18) against the mighty Bruins.
The NHL has decided that, if Motte is out, the Boston game will count as the Rangers’ first emergency contest. That would prevent the Rangers from calling anybody up on an emergency basis until the matchup with the Canadiens in Montreal on Thursday.
Despite the fact that the Rangers had to play shorthanded Wednesday against the Flyers and Thursday against the Senators, the NHL denied the club’s emergency recall after finding that they had created their predicament. Before the Rangers traded for Patrick Kane on Tuesday, they were technically in a roster emergency.
Since they had enough salary cap space to make a regular recall at the time, and instead addressed the emergency by adding Kane, the league felt the Rangers voluntarily put themselves in the man-short situation. Motte’s injury only further complicated things for the Rangers, who had to finish the 5-3 loss to the Senators with 11 forwards and five defensemen.
Saturday also will be the third and final game of K’Andre Miller’s suspension for spitting on the Kings’ Drew Doughty last weekend, so he will be unavailable as well.
➤ The Rangers acquired forward Anton Blidh from the Avalanche in exchange for Gustav Rydahl, and received Wyatt Kalynuk from the Canucks for future considerations before the 3 p.m. Friday trade deadline. Both players will presumably report to AHL Hartford.
Blidh, who was drafted 180th overall by the Bruins in the 2013 NHL Draft, has 84 games of NHL experience spread across seven NHL seasons. After spending the first six seasons of his NHL career with the Bruins, Blidh signed a one-year, two-way deal with Colorado as a free agent last summer. He made the opening-night roster for the Avalanche, but was later assigned to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Colorado Eagles.
In 14 games this season with the Avalanche, Blidh has zero points and four penalty minutes.
Kalynuk, a 196th overall pick by the Flyers in the 2017 NHL Draft, has 26 games of NHL experience over two seasons in Chicago. After not receiving a qualifying offer from the Blackhawks following the 2021-22 seasons, the lefthanded defenseman signed a one-year, two-way deal to join the Canucks.
The 25-year-old Kalynuk had four goals and 13 assists in 46 games for Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.
Rydahl heads to Vancouver having never played a game for the Rangers. After signing a one-year deal last June, the Swedish center was called up to the active roster on Jan. 5, but ultimately didn’t get into the game.