The fact that Carl Hagelin for the New York Rangers was
something that many expected, but few could have believed he would have this
type of impact at NHL level so quickly. Following his impressive two goal performance last
night in Buffalo the 23-year-old rookie winger now has three goals and three
assists in eight games for New York.
John Tortorella has publicly said that he liked what he saw
of Hagelin in the preseason and wanted to keep him on the team then, but the
consensus was that he needed to go down to play with the Connecticut Whale for
more experience. Injuries to Wojtek
Wolski and Mike Rupp along with the suspension to Andre Deveaux and
ineffectiveness of Erik Christensen gave Hagelin the opportunity which he has
run with.
As impressive as Hagelin was in his first four games,
scoring in each, last night’s performance against the Sabres was more
impressive because of it being a bounce back night for him. Hagelin had not scored in three straight,
watching his minutes cut to just 6:40 against the Lightning on Thursday . The minute decrease was not solely from the
lack of points, but because his work level had dropped down. He got back to doing what makes him
successful in using his speed to put pressure on the opposition, working along
the walls and being responsible in all three zones.
Hagelin needed an impact game to snap out of his mini funk
and he did just that against the Sabres.
He got his night, and the Rangers offense, going with a beautiful
shorthanded goal on a slap shot from the left circle that beat Jhonas Enroth
far side for a shorthanded goal. In the
third period he gave the Rangers a critical two goal cushion with a very
similar goal to his first one racing down the left wing and firing far post
from the faceoff circle.
The
fact that Hagelin was able to readjust his game and show even more when given
the opportunity on the penalty kill not only bodes well for him, but potentially
spells trouble for someone like Wojtek Wolski.
Hagelin’s
situation is much like McDonagh’s last year in that he was cut out of camp to
get more experience in the AHL, got the call because of injury and is looking
to ensure he never goes back down. The
question now becomes will the Rangers’ brass respond in much the same way as
they did last season in creating his roster spot by moving a large salary like
Wolski ($3.8 mil) out either via trade or waivers to keep room for him. For many the move to eliminate Erik Christensen comes first, but the difference in cap costs might save Christensen over Wolski.
Wolski
is only effective in a top six or maybe a top nine role and with Hagelin
solidifying himself as a top nine left wing for the Rangers right now the
purpose of Wolski at his salary being on the roster diminishes. Ideally the Rangers would get something for
Wolski, but if all they get is cap space to potentially make an acquisition at
the trade deadline to make a run, then considering moving Wolski’s contract off
the cap is certainly worth looking at thanks to the play of Hagelin.
