Rangers 2010 First Round Pick Dylan McIlrath Signs ATO, Will Join Whale This Week

According to the AHL transactions page , the Rangers have signed 2010 first round pick Dylan McIlrath to an Amateur Tryout (ATO) agreement with the Connecticut Whale.  Per Brian Ring  McIlrath is expected to report to the team this week.  McIlrath, 18, had 5 goals, 18 assists and 153 penalty minutes in 62 games during the regular season for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL.  In the playoffs McIlrath was scoreless in their six game first round defeat to the Kooteany Ice.

The ATO allows McIlrath to play with the team this season and during the playoffs without having any impact on his entry-level contract which officially starts next season.  Dylan is allowed to play in the AHL despite being under 20 because his Junior team has finished their season, but next season he will have to either be in the NHL or back in the WHL.  Being around the professional game should be a very good experience for McIlrath and give him another sense of what it will take for him to be a professional player.  Look for Wade Redden to take McIlrath under his wing as he has done with all the young defenders for the Whale this season.

Locking Up Michael Sauer Should Be A Rangers Priority This Summer

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There have been a number of pleasant surprises for the New York Rangers during this season, but few if any have been as good as the play of rookie defenseman Michael Sauer. Coming into the season Sauer was seen by many as an afterthought even to make the roster.  His play throughout the year has not only changed that thinking, but made him a critical part of the Rangers defensive core now and into the future.  The 23-year-old defender has played himself into the top four on defense and has been arguably the best defender on the club the second half of the season.

There has been a lot of discussion this year about the necessary contracts for Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky along with some for Brian Boyle and Artem Anisimov but very little attention has been paid to the fact that Michael Sauer is also on that RFA list.  He will never be the flashy player on that list, the big name or the big producer but his steadiness this season has made him as important as any of those guys to the position the Rangers are in.  Normally I look at players have their best season in a contract year with skepticism and only want to give them a one year contract to prove it again, but with Sauer I don’t have those doubts because of that level of consistency he has played with every game this year.

Every night he steps on the ice you know you are getting a player with tremendous defensive awareness, positioning and attention to the basics.  Add to that a man who loves to hit, clears the crease and fights to defend himself and his teammates and you get someone you have to keep around this summer. 

What has come along more than most would have expected is his offensive contributions.  As with everything Sauer does his offensive improvement and impact is beyond the boxscore and stems from his intelligence.  He does a tremendous job of reading the play and knowing when to pinch to keep possession alive, when to slide down for a potential scoring chance and when to back out and play defense.  Those traits were on display Monday night against Boston as Sauer read the play beautifully and slid down to a position where he was able to take advantage of the hustle by the forwards behind the net and beat Tim Thomas for his second game winning goal of the season.  The goal was his third to go with 11 assists in 74 games this season while playing to a tremendous +18 rating.

Where would the Rangers be without Michael Sauer this season?  I for one do not want to find out as this summer the team should lock up the 23-year-old defender for at least two seasons at a price of 1-1.2 million per year.

Rangers Way Forward Without Callahan Is As A Unit

There is no good time to ever lose a player like Ryan Callahan from your lineup.  With Callahan down the team loses an excellent penalty killer, one of your best forecheckers, a key power play guy, one of their leading point getters, their second leading goal scorer, an unquestioned leadership figure and a lead by example/leave it all out there every night player.  There is no one player that can fill the void that him being out creates both on and off the ice.  What there is instead is a group of players that all season have found a way to persevere in the face of injury after injury and use that adversity to bring them together as a unit to get to the brink of making the playoffs.  What there is left behind without Callahan is a unit that makes no excuses and has an identity of how they must play in order to be successful. 

While losing Callahan is a huge blow to all of those things the team has to take comfort in the fact that they succeeded without him before and that the way he went down was in the mold of the identity they have created for themselves this season.  The beauty of this team has been about their willingness to sacrifice for one another whether it be statistically or purely with their bodies to do whatever it takes to win games and it was in that spirit that they lost their leader Monday night to a broken ankle.  It will also be in that spirit that they rally through it the best they can to replace the guy who most epitomizes the mentality that the team is trying instill as the organizational philosophy for how players will play.

“There’s nothing good about this,” head coach John Tortorella told reporters when confirming the news Tuesday. “But I think you need to try and turn it into something that will help your team even more during this crunch time. That’s the way we are going to approach it. This could galvanize our team even more.”

It is up to all the other guys in the locker room to embrace the challenge of losing the most consistent forward on the team and for all to do their part to be a little more like Ryan Callahan with each shift they step on the ice.  They did that to the tune of a 10-7-2 record when he was injured in December, but this is playoff time and the games are only going to be tougher and the loss felt even more.  There is no reason to write off this team even with the loss of Ryan Callahan because the basis for the Rangers success this season has been found in their resilience, fight and determination and they will continue to exert those now.

It will take a collective effort to rise to this challenge and there is nothing the Rangers have done better this season than play collectively.  They will need more from the Boyle, Prust, Fedotenko, Stepan, Anisimov for sure, but the four guys who really need to rise to the offensive challenge are Gaborik, Dubinsky, Prospal and Wolski.  Wolski might be the most surprising player in that group, but he is also one of the most offensively talented forwards on the team and his skill level was critical to the comeback win against Boston.  Dubinsky and Prospal are crucial both for their production but also for their ability to lead the team in their own ways.  Each has a very good feel for the emotional pulse of this team and have the ability to lift this team with that energy and fire when they play at the top of their game.

Finally there is Marian Gaborik.  In reacting to the loss of Callahan Gaborik had the following to say…

“Obviously he’s one of the best players on the team, and it’s a huge loss. We just have to play for him and try to go as far as we can so that he can hopefully come back.”

There is no forward on this team that has the ability to put the team on his back offensively in the way that Marian Gaborik can because at his best he is top scorer in this league and just as importantly a threat that must be accounted for.  He will not fill all the roles of Callahan, but others will chip in where the energy and leadership aspects go and the Gaborik must elevate his offense to alleviate the burden from others in pressing to find goals.  If he can do that, then the Rangers will be fine.

This team has been tested repeatedly this season through the adversity of injury and this is yet another test.  This test does come at the worst possible point in the season, but that only makes the challenge larger and the sweetness of the accomplishment better when they succeed in the face of it.  They are now without their leader, their most consistent forward and an irreplaceable piece to this club, but they will find a way to fight through it; they always do.

Gilroy Moves To Wing In Absence of Callahan, Rangers Choose Flexibility over Callup

The initial response to the loss of Ryan Callahan indefinitely is to move Matt Gilroy from defense up to right wing and go with no spare forwards at the moment.  Gilroy has not played forward for any consistent time in years, so there is certainly some concern over the move and questions as to why there is not a callup for Kolarik, Zuccarello or even leaving Newbury here.  I agree that this seems like an awful time to start experimenting with new positions, but the reason this move might make more sense than a callup is coach John Tortorella has gone with mainly three lines for some time now.  Thinking in those terms one would have to figure Gilroy will be on the fourth line and playing very limited minutes at even strength anyway. 

What putting Gilroy in the lineup does do is give Tortorella flexibility in terms of positioning if a defenseman is struggling on a given night as he could move Gilroy in his spot or rotate defense to lessen the ice load amongst the group.  Gilroy also has the ability to play the point on power play and having him as hybrid forward/defender with limited minutes would allow him to play that role without having to worry about any defensive concerns they have about him.  He has not been great on the point, but he has an upside for that position that could make it an option for the team in the short term.  The move also allows Tortorella the option to double shift Gaborik with Avery and Christensen to help dictate matchups and get Gaborik more ice time.

If the Gilroy experiment isn’t working or the Rangers need more of a spark then the move can always be made later.  In the meantime I would expect the following lines for tomorrow’s practice:

Dubinsky-Anisimov-Gaborik

Prospal-Stepan-Wolski

Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust

Avery-Christensen-Gilroy

Ryan Callahan Breaks Ankle, Out Indefinitely (w/video)

Injuries are nothing new to the 2010-11 New York Rangers season and it they have suffered another huge one with just days left in the regular season.  According to Bob McKenzie of TSN assistant captain and team leader Ryan Callahan suffered a broken ankle when he blocked a Zdeno Chara slap shot late in the third period of the 5-3 comeback victory on Monday night.

Update: The New York Rangers official twitter confirms the broken ankle for Callahan and has coach John Tortorella saying that the injury is long term with an indefinite return date.

To see Callahan get injured blocking a shot is no surprise as he was out for 19 games earlier this season from a broken hand he suffered blocking a shot against the Penguins.  It is that kind of courage to get in the way of that shot to preserve a one goal lead that makes Ryan Callahan the player he is and while we would all love for him to stay healthy if he did so by stopping playing like that we would not want that.

The Rangers have fought through injuries all season including Callahan’s earlier in the year where they went 10-7-2 without him and now they will have another test these last two games of the regular season and likely the playoffs without a key player in their team.  It will be up to other players to step up as this team has done all year when someone goes down.  The task is not easy, but this team has made no excuses and I do not expect that to start now.  The burden on Gaborik, and Dubinsky has just gone up to some extent, but they win as a unit so everyone has to do their part to replace a heart and soul player like Callahan.

Followup: Rangers Way Forward Without Callahan Is As A Unit

Video of the play:

Rangers Resilency, Determination, Sacrifice Should Make All Fans Proud To Cheer

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The New York Rangers comeback win against the Boston Bruins is one of those that people will look at as season defining partially because of the time of year it happened and what was on the line at this point in the year.  Hopefully what will not get lost in the shuffle is how last night’s game was a product of the identity and system this team has been built on all season.  One thing you can rarely say with this Rangers team is that they lack effort, heart or fight.  They have their nights where it goes horribly wrong, but those are few and far between.  What you see with a much greater frequency is a team that no matter the situation battles and scraps their way until the final buzzer and more often than not that hard work and sacrificing mentality is rewarded with a result that leaves the players with the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction and the fans with a sense of pride for cheering for this particular group.

Last night against the Bruins was just one of those events.  Early in the game there was frustration and even despair for some at the way the team looked to be outclassed by Boston for the first period.  Having watched this team all year no fan should have given up them at that point because whether they completed the comeback or not you had to expect the effort to get there would be forthcoming and it was.  The resiliency and fight of this team is something that should never be discounted and once Vinny Prospal broke the seal on the scoring for the night you just had this sense they were going to find a way as they have many times before this season.

From Andrew Gross post-game wrap up last night:

“We’ve been this way all year long,” Tortorella said about the resiliency the team showed in coming back from a three-goal deficit. “We haven’t played a lot of bad games. This team has balls. It has had balls all year long.”

This team is certainly one that is certainly greater than the sum of its parts and uses those intangibles to get through the rough moments.  There is no denying they have a world class goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist who should be considered, but likely won’t win the Vezina and they have an All-Star defender in Marc Staal.  Outside of those two, with Gaborik having an off year, the talent level on this team is not nearly as high as just about any other team currently in playoff position.  They have to be a team that grinds you, that plays their system in order to have a chance each night, but it is their heart and determination that carries them more than anything else. 

You watch this team that is built on an identity which at its core is based on the idea of sacrificing for the rest of the guys in the room.  You see in how they forecheck and cycle the puck on offense with the willingness to take the punishment and you see it even more on defense where they constantly hurl themselves in front of shot after shot with no thought for their own health or safety.  The evidence of that is the last 90 seconds last night after the two huge goals to take the lead you have Brian Boyle and Ryan Callahan diving in front of Zdeno Chara bombs to preserve the comeback.  It is that kind of work that allows the comeback to possible at all.

“They are there every night doing that,” goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said. “I think everyone is doing a great job paying the price.  We are going to need it.  We are going to need guys to sacrifice their bodies.  That is the way we play…we play hard.  When we do that we have a much better shot to win.”

There will be ups and downs in a game or in the season as these are still the New York Rangers and they love to make it interesting, but this Rangers team is different than ones from previous seasons as they give you reason to believe and be proud nearly every night.  With the effort that they put in, the heart that they show and the resiliency they continue to reward the fans with there should never be a point where someone quits on this team.

Sauer Game-Winner Seals Rangers Crucial 5-3 Comeback Win Over Bruins

The New York Rangers took a large step towards locking down a playoff spot with a massive 5-3 comeback victory over the Boston. The Rangers baked back from a 3-0 deficit midway through the second period finishing it off with three goals during the last four minutes of the game. Brandon Dubinsky started the rally with the tying goal, then Michael Sauer would net the eventual game winner before Derek Stepan added the empty net goal to seal it. The three goals came in 2:55 of action. The win moves the Rangers into seventh and lowered their magic number to just three. The four points the last two days were huge for the team and each game showed the grit and determination of the team and shows why this team is a legit threat to do damage in the playoffs.

The Rangers were completely outplayed in the first period and if not for some spectacular work by Henrik Lundqvist the deficit would have been a lot worse than 2-0. After multiple saves by Lundqvist the Bruins got on the board first with a goal by Dan Paille at 15:16. Just 1:37 later Nathan Horton made it 2-0 on a goal from a goal mouth scramble.

The Rangers played a much better second period as they played much better defensively holding only four shots. Boston made it 3-0 when Chris Kelly scored off the rush at 10:32.

The Rangers got some life from a Vinny Prospal at 11:34. The goal itself was a tap-in as a Wojtek Wolski shot got through Thomas' legs leaving the juicy rebound for Prospal.

Prospal brought the Rangers within one with his second of the night with just 1:34 left in the period giving the Rangers momentum heading into the final period.

• Lundqvist was excellent tonight in holding the fort until the team decided to kick it in gear.
• Michael Sauer continues to impress with his play this year. The goal and the assist tonight are icing on the cake for what he provides this team on a nightly basis.
• The line of Wolski, Prospal and Stepan was excellent once they were put together during the second.

Video: McNeil, Spencer Throw Simultaneous Haymakers in ECHL Scrap

There will be plenty of longer fights in hockey games this year, but there might not be one with the flurried exchange that this one might rank up there with the best of the year.  During Friday night's ECHL game between the South Carolina Stingrays and the Florida Everblades it was Stingrays Grant McNeil squaring off with the Everblades Tim Spencer in a heavyweight bout that was certainly full of heavy shots.

Video:


H/T to Puck Daddy

Drury Return Could Boost Rangers In Playoffs If Used In Olympic Style Role

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It was only an optional for the New York Rangers this morning, but there was a surprising participant on the ice in the form of team captain Chris Drury.  Drury who has only played in 23 games this season and produced only four assists is trying to work his way back from his third injury to cost him significant time this year. After twice breaking his finger he is now rehabbing from knee surgery and while many Rangers fans will focus on the salary and the lack of points he produces for the money they should not discount the things he could add to the team in the playoffs as a depth forward. 

His role for us could be similar to the role he had with Team USA in the Olympics last year where he was a role player who can add faceoff skills, strong defensive play and penalty killing to his previous playoff experience would be a boost to the team.  Have to realize that in the playoffs the bench will get shortened to three lines so having a role player who can do what Drury can do likely makes him as or more valuable than any of Christensen, Wolski or Avery, especially depending on the matchup.  Drury is not going to add much of anything on offense, but when every goal is critical in the playoffs preventing them can be just as important to the team’s success.  While his high will certainly be lower than any of those other three he is more consistent in what he does well and you need that in the extra season.

Video: No Helmet, No Problem As Enroth Robs Jokinen