In what is essentially becoming an early evaluation period or training camp for next season, the beaten and broken Rangers fail to have anything to show for against the Boston Bruins. The Bruins will gladly take these last two games as they look to climb the standings as much as possible before the playoffs begin. It's no secret it's been a crazy couple of days for the Rangers. Yesterday started with a press conference from Chris Drury and Glen Sather, basically crossing all the t's and doting all the i's of everything that's been announced the other day. Dru offered plenty of assurance to Rangers fans that this team is in good hands and he will look to get this team to the next level.
Other news that came immediately resulting in this game was Julien Gauthier is out for the remainder of the season, not a surprise. The young forward who did not see nearly enough ice time as he deserved this season fell into the boards awkwardly against the Caps, seeming to have messed up his knee. Hopefully it's nothing too serious but he has plenty of time to recover before next season, and hopefully he is still a Ranger come next season. Perhaps the injury will deter Seattle from taking him in the expansion draft. Who knows, anything can happen between now and next season.
On top of that, the league decided to suspend Pavel Buchnevich for the game as a result of his cross-check on Anthony Mantha. Yet another ridiculous decision and consequence of the Tom Wilson fiasco earlier this week. What Buchnevich did happens ALL THE TIME in hockey. Chara did the same exact thing to Brendan Gallagher a couple years ago and nobody batted an eye. However because this was all a result of a missed call by the league and the game got out of hand, Buchnevich had to wear the hat and sit out for a game. With that the Rangers have a game to play without Buchnevich, Panarin, Kreider, Trouba, Lindgren, Gauthier, and Howden. That's an entire top line right there plus two thirds of another.
That being said it is no surprise whatsoever the Bruins walked all over us, Stevie V even said during intermission at one point that the fact of the matter is half our team won't even be NHL players come next season. This game was purely a chance for these guys including game day call ups Gettinger, Brodzinski and Richards to prove themselves one last time. I mean no disrespect to the man at all but when Johnny Brodzinski is in your top six going into a game, it's not looking great. So what did we see out of these guys? Not much.
I will say one thing that should be obvious at this point is Brett Howden's trial with the Rangers should be over. Morgan Barron has proven in his small handful of showings with the Rangers that he is a way more solid option for that fourth line center role than Howden is. He's a bigger body, has more skill with the puck, is just as effective on the penalty kill. On top of that has way more potential at this point then Brett Howden has showed. Just something to think about going into next season.
As for the rest of the guys looking to prove themselves, there wasn't much to see. This wasn't Tim Gettinger's first time getting a call up but it could be the 6"6 power forward's last. He will be an RFA this off-season so the Rangers will have to decide if there's anything left to see in him. It's far too early to tell if the Rangers will keep him around for another year but I'd say with all the major changes the last couple of days, if he doesn't have a big showing in the final game, he could find himself a free agent by the summer.
Johnny Brodzinski already earned his extension but he will likely remain in Hartford acting as an emergency call up the Rangers going forward. Best case scenario for him is he becomes a Colin Blackwell type player down the line but even that is a stretch and likely something that won't happen over night. Justin Richards didn't crack the line up last night, will be interesting to see if they give him a look on Saturday. Phil Di Giuseppe is another name that is playing for his keep with his contract coming to an end this off season. I like the guy, especially after Thursday night when he dropped the gloves during the line brawl that's enough to gain my loyalty. However, I don't see the Rangers bringing him back. If the whole plan going forward is to acquire bottom six guys who will help us make playoffs, there's sadly no need for PDG. I would even go as far as saying there's really only one need for him/Blackwell/Rooney.
I'll get into more specific breakdown's of each individual players season in a couple weeks when the dust of this year has settled but if anything this game and likely Saturday afternoon's will be even more obvious reminder's that this team needs to improve their bottom six. Even if it just means bringing in ONE veteran grinder that can bring some physicality to the fourth line with Barron and Gauthier. There will be plenty of time to factor in all the variables about next season and assess everything once the season is done with. However these games are painful to watch, with all the injuries, suspensions and just overall defeat of everything that's gone down it's clear the guys filling in can't compete at this level and the guys who can are just going through the motions to get to the off season.
We have one last showing with the Bruins tomorrow afternoon and honestly, I don't expect anything different than what we saw last night. A goal would be nice this time around but it's been a roller coaster of a season, this group has been through a lot, the young guys who made their debuts this season are beginning to set their sights on what they need to bring to the table next season. Let's just put forth one last strong effort and hope we can end the season on a positive note.
Chris Feldman
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