Ruff next in line should AV get iced
There is no one with more pressure to step up his game in the wake of Stepan’s departure than Kevin Hayes.
It is likely an unpopular opinion and perhaps a far-fetched option if New Jersey GM Ray Shero attempts to hold up the Rangers for ransom, but I would love to see Ilya Kovalchuk wearing the Blueshirt next year, and beyond.
For not only do the Rangers lack a first-line center and firstpair right D (and will lack a topfour right D if they cannot keep Brendan Smith), they lack a game-changer and gamebreaker. Kovalchuk would take care of that.
At the end of the day, the Islanders effectively traded Travis Hamonic, Ryan Strome, Mikhail Grabovski, Jake Bischoff, Jean-Francois Berube, a first-rounder this year and a fourth-rounder down the line in exchange for Jordan Eberle, a first next year, a second in two years and a net gain of $5.357 million in cap space.
Which leaves GM Garth Snow still with oodles of assets to wheel for immediate aid and comfort for John Tavares, who is proving to be one of the most loyal and patient players in pro sports.
Is it worth mentioning (again) that Snow used his fifth-overall on Strome (who went to Edmonton for Eberle) in 2011 when Mark Scheifele, Sean Couturier, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Brodin were on the board and that the GM used his fourth overall on Griffin Reinhart (who previously went to the Oilers for a first and second) in 2012 when Morgan Rielly, Hampus Lindholm, Matt Dumba, Jacob Trouba and Filip Forsberg were there for the taking?
Nah.
On the day of Game 1 of the Cup final, Gary Bettman said the offside coach’s challenge had worked “exactly as in- tended” during its first year of operation, which is tantamount to suggesting the Rangers’ defense against the extra attacker had worked “exactly as intended” against the Senators. Three weeks later, though, the commissioner apparently changed his mind, for we’re told it is Bettman who is the driving force to assess teams with minor penalties rather than with a timeout for incorrect offside challenges.
It is a suggestion as idiotic as the concept of the offside challenge itself. Linesmen more often than not cannot be sure whether infractions occurred after four or five minutes of studying video, but coaches are now charged with having to be sure in the 30 seconds or so after a goal is scored?
Safe apparently will continue to mean death in Columbus. For after acquiring worldclass skill forward Artemi Panarin from Chicago in exchange for Brandon Saad, who somehow spent a fair amount of time on coach John Tortorella’s fourth line, the Jackets are expected to be all in on Kovalchuk, too.
We’re told Bettman was needed to intervene in the discussions between owner Andrew Barroway and outgoing coach Dave Tippett, who apparently agreed to leave up to $10 million on the table to secure his exit.
It was just a year ago that Tippett was able to use his influence with the then-majority ownership to force GM Don Maloney out the door.
As sand through the hourglass, shifting winds, and all that.
What does 30-year-old T.J. Oshie’s eight-year, $46 million contract extension mean? It means he will become a Washington amnesty buyout following Owners’ Lockout IV.