NHL News + Notes for 6/15

Going to start a new feature on here. Basically expect a bunch of quick hits regarding things going on around the NHL that will in some way involve the Rangers.

• Let’s start with actual Rangers news. It sounds like the Rangers have re-signed their first player of the offseason. And it is…Chris Summers. Okay, that isn’t exactly exciting news but you can never have too much defensive depth. Expect Summers to fight for the seventh defense spot in training camp and be on the short list of call ups if an injury hits. According to CapFriendly, the contract is one year, two-way deal at $600k in the NHL and $350k in the AHL. Due to number of pro games he’s played, he will need to clear waivers to be sent down but I still have no issues with this contract at all.
• Obviously the Rangers have a lot more to do than this so a couple of dates to keep in mind:
  June 15th (i.e. today) – Buyout window opens. It will be open through June 30th.
  June 27th – Qualifying offers are due in for RFAs. The Rangers have a bunch of RFAs in Hartford but the four who will definitely be getting QOs are Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller, Kevin Hayes and Dylan McIlrath. And yes, they will still get qualifying offers even if the Rangers are thinking of trading them. If they don’t, they become UFAs on July 1st and the Rangers lose them for nothing. That’s not happening.
• Surprisingly, the Rangers still do not have a new assistant coach to replace the since departed Ulf Samuelsson. There were some random rumors that Rick Bowness would be leaving Tampa. After signing an extension yesterday he said he had no idea where those rumors came from. (Personally I didn’t think they made sense since everything I heard said he was staying in Tampa.) I’m not sure what they are waiting for as most assume they will be promoting Jeff Beukeboom. Unless other changes are on the way as well and they want to announce new crew all at once. It’s possible they could be waiting for Scott Arniel to find something. This way they changed the staff without actually firing any of them.
• Yesterday, hockey fans were abuzz with news that expansion would indeed be happening in the 2017-18 season. This wasn’t really a secret, nor was the fact it would only be to Las Vegas, but we basically got confirmation. So what does that mean? Well for starters, next June there will be an expansion draft and the Rangers will lose someone off their roster. I refuse to speculate who or anything else until the guidelines are set. Once they are, like everyone else, I will have plenty to say on this. For now I’ll just say I don’t understand how a league that is bleeding money thinks it’s a good idea to add teams. But that’s the NHL.

And with that, we’ll wait for some actual news which should be coming soon. I’ll blame the quietness on the fact that the playoffs were still going on. Otherwise I would be really worried it’s been so quiet.

 

(Photo: Melissa Andus)