Bantering Points: 12/17/24

Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

Mollie Walker chatted with Sam Rosen about how his looming retirement has already been, and will continue to be, felt by both the Rangers organization as well as the league at large (NY Post)

Walker also highlighted Artemiy Panarin's absence from Sunday's effort as another challenge the Blueshirts failed to overcome in their 3-2 defeat in St. Louis (NY Post)

Stan Fischler notes that has New York's skid has extended to ten losses in its last 13 games, pundits around the league have begun to sour on the team's outlook (The Hockey News)

Remy Mastey offers his take on Kaapo Kakko sitting as a healthy scratch on Sunday and what it means going forward (The Hockey News)

Mastey also relayed word from Elliotte Friedman, who wondered whether Mika Zibanejad's recent ice time reduction was strictly performance-related or if there's more than meets the eye (The Hockey News)

Ian Oland examines the Blueshirts' struggles through the lens of Peter Laviolette's previous head coaching job in Washington (Russian Machine Never Breaks)

Around the NHL:

The Florida Panthers knocked off the Edmonton Oilers in a back and forth, 6-5 affair in a rematch of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final (Sportsnet)

Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula spoke to his team, currently mired in a 0-7-3 winless streak, ahead of their game against Montreal on Tuesday (TSN)