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New York Rangers Notes

Rangers vs. Predators: Making Quick Work of Nashville

A win is a win is a win, but this win came against a bad team and had to be preserved by Jonathan Quick standing on his head in the third period.

Eric Kohn

Eric Kohn

— 5 min read
Rangers vs. Predators: Making Quick Work of Nashville
© Brad Penner-Imagn Images
  • As Joe noted on the Emergency Bandwidth episode on the Ryan Lindgren trade, I was out celebrating my wife's birthday Saturday night and, desiring to remain married well into the future, not available for the podcast. So a few quick thoughts here before we get to the game:
  • It's a good trade. Joe is right to say "I told you so" after my recent "you sure about that?" any time Lindgren came up. This was mostly informed by my confusion over the seeming confusion between the head coach and the front office. But I've always agreed that moving on from Lindgren was the right thing to do and the necessary thing to do. I'm glad it's done.
  • Everyone who is pointing out that we have some Dan Girardi/Marc Staal syndrome going on here with Lindgren is correct. The last two years were not great for Lindgren, which is why moving on now was so important. But we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that Ryan Lindgren was a great Ranger. The guy put his body on the line night-in and night-out for this team. He bled—a lot, comically a lot— for this team. There was a time, not that long ago, where Lindgren being knocked out of the lineup seemingly scrambled the brains of every other Ranger. He was the glue. We should remember that, and not how it ended. I wish him nothing but the best in Colorado.
  • Much the same to Jimmy Vesey. The first time around with Vesey in a Blueshirt was frustrating, as he was frequently thrust into a roles he really wasn't well suited to. I remember a lot of top six minutes and not a lot of top-six quality play from him. In between that first Rangers stint and his return, he transformed is game into that of a gritty, shutdown defensive winger. He's the kind of player you want on your team in the bottom six—ideally, 4th line—if you're planning on a deep playoff run. Similarly wish him the best in Colorado.
  • I ... haven't the foggiest idea who Hank Kampf is, but I wish him the best, too.
  • As for the return, it's perfectly fine. The two picks help restock the Rangers' depleted draft capital. Calvin de Haan is a serviceable bottom pair defenseman whose speciality is defending, and heaven knows the Rangers need players who know how to defend. And I'm not wow'd by Juuso Parssinen from what I've seen and read so far. Best case scenario, he's a candidate for 3C. Worst case, he's just another dude. We shall see.
  • To clean up a few other roster-related matters: Reilly Smith was held out of the game for "roster management" reasons, so pretty clear that he's the next guy ticketed out of town. Down in Hartford, Chad Ruhwedel was held out of the Wolf Pack's Sunday game. Could mean that a rostered defenseman is headed out of town, too, or could be nothing.
  • And then there's Arthur Kaliyev. I had this back-and-forth with Vince Mercogliano on the former Bird App:
  • I'll keep my powder dry on this until after Smith is moved, but Kaliyev is an RFA with arbitration rights after this season, and you'd kind of like to know what you have in that player, because we already know exactly what Brodzinski is. Not disputing that Brodzinski is playing well, because he is. But, for now, I'll wait.
  • What an incredible game from Jonathan Quick. A shutout in his 800th career NHL game. Just one of those games where he decides no one is going to score on him, and no one can score on him. We have, unfortunately, seen that mode from Quickie before. Nashville had their best period in the third, firing 20 shots at him. And he was up to the test on them all. Just an outstanding performance.

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