Bantering Points: 7/23/24

Here are today;s news and links:

Rangers News:

While the dog days of July are usually a down time for the NHL offseason, that was not the case in 1996 when Wayne Gretzky's first and only foray into free agency resulted in him signing with the Rangers 28 years ago on Sunday (NY Post)

Brian Abate highlights Brennan Othmann as one player that was not a major part of the 2023-24 Rangers that could emerge as a integral piece of the 2024-25 squad (The Hockey Writers)

Lucas Standel points to Mika Zibanejad as the player most in need of a bounce back season (The Hockey Writers)

Stan Fischler ponders what the Blueshirts will do with Jacob Trouba now that all the major dominoes of the offseason have fallen into place (The Hockey News)

William Douglas chatted with EJ Emery about the Rangers' 2024 first round pick's decision to become the first black player so skate for the University of North Dakota since 1994 (NHL.com)

Around the NHL:

Larry Brooks assembled the all-one franchise team of hockey players (NY Post)

Travis Yost breaks down why finding two quality goaltenders has become a bigger priority for teams in an age where the traditional workhorse starting goaltender is becoming less common (TSN)

The Columbus Blue Jackets named former Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason as their new bench boss (Sportsnet)

The Vancouver Canucks agreed to a one-year, $975,000 contract with forward Daniel Sprong (ESPN)