In a game where the most exciting moment was watching arena staff replace the glass near the Rangers bench, the Rangers played an extremely flat game in a 4-1 loss to the Red Wings. While making excuses is never productive, "roster management reasons" that were labelled the cause of Vitaly Kravtsov and Jake Leschyshyn not being available for tonight's game could have been quite as large a distraction for the team as it was for fans. Prior to the start of the game, the Rangers announced the two players would not be available tonight for roster management related reasons. While there weren't any specifics that came with it, fans not just of the Rangers, but around the league pretty much know what this means.
Now the interesting part of this announcement is that Kravtsov hasn't played a game in weeks and Jake Leschyshyn isn't necessarily an internal piece to this lineup. The Rangers very well could have just said they were opting to go with seven defensemen for the night and it likely wouldn't have gathered nearly as much attention. That being said, they made this announcement for a number of reasons. They're either very much are on the brink of trading for Patrick Kane, or another big name player. Or they want teams to think, maybe know that they are. As of this morning, we are officially one week away from the trade deadline so as far as what last night's "roster management reasons" really mean, we could be in for a longer wait than we're hoping for.
I haven't spoken a ton on the idea of a Patrick Kane trade to the Rangers, mostly because everyone and their mother has, but partially because I didn't really see it happening. Especially after they brought in Tarasenko. The fact that it's seeming more and more likely that they are, means that Kane is really pushing his way to the Rangers. New York or No Where right? It's no secret that following the Tarasenko trade, Kane expressed his disappointment, making it pretty clear that he wants to be a Ranger. Which all off-ice things with him aside, is pretty neat to see a former league super star be so set on wanting to be a Ranger.
With the possibility of Kane becoming a Ranger, I suppose it's time to collect my thoughts on the guy. I remember watching him score the game-winning goal to win the Stanley Cup in overtime back in 2010 like it was yesterday. At the time, the Blackhawks were one of the most exciting team's to watch. They became a true dynasty in the early 2010's but unfortunately, all that got severely tarnished when all the Kyle Beach stuff came out. On top of that, Kane has his own off ice history with assaulting cab drivers and possibly women. There was an additional sexual assault case directly involving Patrick Kane that eventually fizzled out as a result of spotty evidence that eventually left him with a cleared name.
Because of all that, it's quite hard to really be a fan of him and Rangers fans are certainly divided on the idea of him becoming a Blueshirt. I'm not here to say whether or not you should accept Kane with open arms or accept him at all. I can see why for some, bringing on a guy with a history like his can be triggering or troubling to see from your favorite team. I'm not suggesting you justify him potentially being a Ranger and if you hate it that much, do what you gotta do. However, it is worth noting, the Rangers aren't necessarily desperately wanting this guy to be Ranger. With Kane forcing his hand here, the Rangers have the ability to pay pennies on the dollar for a guy who like it or not, on paper has a sure fire ticket to the hall of fame. (As Steve Dangle likes to say, it's not the Hall of Good Guys)
At the end of the day, if the Rangers get Kane, you don't have to like it but try not to let it tarnish the Rangers for you. He's a rental and if it helps us go all the way, then it's a small price to pay. It's pretty obvious he isn't the best person however, he's a potential missing piece to a perfect line up and that's ultimately going to be the deciding factor in this decision. Again, I'm not defending Kane and I'm not saying his history should be ignored or forgiven but he shouldn't get to ruin your favorite team because of it. Maybe he is a bad person, maybe there's a chance we don't know every detail of every thing he did or didn't do, whatever it is, if he's going to be a Ranger, maybe don't go storming the Garden with pitchforks and torches. It wouldn't be the first time a shitty person played for the team, and best case scenario, they go all the way with 22 out of 23 well-liked guys.
Now, the problem with this move is nothing's perfect right? This trade is not going to be easy by any means. It's going to take at least three team's to get this deal done and making this trade pretty much solidifies that the Rangers have absolutely no room in the budget to make literally any other roster moves. If so much as one piece to this lineup goes down with injury, they will be royally pucked. On top of all the moral stuff, my problem with this trade is how tight it leaves the Rangers. Their depth past this current active roster, assuming we swap Kravtsov for Kane is not great. Ben Harpur, Libor Hajek, Ryan Carpenter, Gustav Rydahl? It's not great. There's also the chemistry aspect of bringing on a guy with Kane's baggage. How will he affect the room let alone the overall team connection on and off the ice?
I'm all for go big or go home and maybe that's why they're targeting Patrick Kane, but we have to ask the question. Is it better for them to go and get Kane, or should they load up on depth? There's two sides of the coin and you can make arguments either way but regardless, Chris Drury and company are up to something. Which brings us to last night and why the game almost didn't even matter. All the attention is on this next move that the Rangers are up to and frankly, until that move takes place, everything else is just sort of going through the motions.
Andrew Copp got the Wings on the board late in the third and his New York Replacement in Vincent Trocheck tied things up early in the second. However from there, Filip Zadina regained the lead for Detroit and goals from Rasmussen and Hronek followed to cap off the score at 4-1. The Rangers tried sparking life, Adam Fox went after Michael Rasmussen for charing Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere fought Jake Walman after a similar interaction with Trocheck. It may not have helped them on the scoreboard but the one thing to really take away from this one was at least they have each others backs out there and play with some fire no matter the result.
The Rangers are back at it tomorrow afternoon in Washington as they'll take on the Capitals. As Mika Zibanejad said post game, no one is really happy with their effort last night and they have now found themselves on a bit of a losing streak. Therefore, it'll be very important for this team to get back on track. The question is, will there be a move that takes place before hand, or will we have a week of fourth liner Ben Harpur before something takes place? Should be quite a week ahead, stay tuned!
Chris Feldman
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