The Rangers are back at it for a St. Patrick's Day showdown with their biggest rivals, the New York Islanders. Before we get into the pre game stuff, we have a trade to announce! There will potentially be a new face in the Rangers lineup tonight as Chris Drury got the ball rolling with a trade yesterday afternoon. The New York Rangers acquire forward Frank Vatrano from the Florida Panthers in exchange for one of the Rangers 2022 4th round picks, whichever one comes later. While this isn't anywhere near a blockbuster trade, this is certainly a great one for the Rangers, who desperately need reinforcements when it comes to the bottom six forward group.
Some quick things about Frank Vatrano. He's from East Longmeadow, MA which is the town next to where I went to college. (Springfield College) His family owns a pizza place just a hop and a skip away from campus. (Antonio's, very okay pizza) His mother is a very nice person according to one of my roommates who spent some time working with the Springfield Falcons (now Thunderbirds) while Vatrano was playing for them. On top of that, apparently Vatrano and Jacob Trouba go way back as countless tweets from 2011 have begun resurfacing since the trade was announced.
As for what he brings on the ice, Vatrano is a pretty versatile player. He's listed as a left winger but can pretty much play any forward position. As a left hand shot, he can be used on the right side as several highlight videos show he has a pretty solid one timer, have to think that putting him on the line with Strome and Panarin until Kakko returns (or until another trade happens) is a possibility. He has 19 points in 49 games on the year however, this may not be totally indicative of what he can bring to the table. He's fallen down in the Panthers lineup as the depth in their lineup has only increased in recent years. He's averaged 33 points in his prior three seasons with Florida so there's definitely an upside to his game that can hopefully be brought out in the big apple.
As for tonight, it's uncertain if Vatrano will join the lineup. He is set to meet with the media around 4:30 but as Vince Mercogliano pointed out via Twitter, the Rangers are not scheduled to have a morning skate today so it's a tough call to put a guy who has never skated with any of these players in the lineup for a pretty big game. Can't rule it out but I wouldn't necessarily count on it. The Rangers will host the Islanders tonight before heading south for a back to back weekend with Tampa and Carolina. With a record of 7-3 in their last ten including the last two, the Blueshirts will look to keep it going and ride into the weekend with another streak of wins.
On the Islanders end, this year has not been kind to them. Between COVID, their arena not being ready for the first quarter of the season and other injuries, this group just hasn't been able to catch up. They enter tonight with a 500 record, 6-3-1 in their last ten. Understandably, they've had quite the home-stand recently as tonight will be only their third road game of the month. Their top guys are starting to heat up as Captain Anders Lee has eight goals in his last five and Anythony Beauvillier, who has struggled this season with seven assists in their last five.
For the Rangers, expect much of the same from Tuesday Night,
Kreider - Zibanejad - Lafreniere
Panarin - Strome - Hunt
Goodrow - Chytil - Brodzinski
Gauthier - McKegg - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Nemeth - Schneider
If the Rangers do opt to throw Vatrano right in there, he would likely replace Julien Gauthier at least to start. As for who will start in net tonight, expect Shesterkin unless the Rangers want to keep riding Georgiev until the Carolina game. Whoever takes the net for the Blueshirts will likely go up against Ilya Sorokin who has been the stronger of the Isles goalie duo this season. As long as the Rangers play their game and keep the Islanders chances to a minimum, they should be able to take control of this game like they did earlier this season when the two teams faced off. Don't expect the Islanders to be the same team they were back in November but given where the Rangers are, they need to keep the mindset that this is their game to lose and they can't afford to carry one into this weekend.
Chris Feldman
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