- After a tough season with the Penguins, veteran winger Reilly Smith could find himself in a top-line role with the Rangers come opening night, writes NHL.com’s David Satriano. The defending Presidents’ Trophy winners have a demonstrable hole at right wing in their top six and were on the hunt for a more offensively-inclined partner for Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad at even strength. Smith, 33, was limited to 13 goals and 40 points in 76 games last season in Pittsburgh. That’s likely not the high-octane punch the Blueshirts are looking for, but it would be an upgrade over the rotating cast of Kaapo Kakko, Jack Roslovic and Blake Wheeler that held the role last season. Smith “probably will be given the first chance” to fill that vacancy after being acquired via trade, Satriano posits, but it could end up being their top trade deadline wish list item should he fail to make an impact.
Rangers Rumors
AHL Notes: Weissbach, Penguins, Wolf Pack
Free agent forward Linus Weissbach has signed with Frölunda HC of the SHL. Weissbach was a Group-VI UFA with the Sabres, effectively moving to unrestricted free agency after not receiving a qualifying offer from the team before July 1st.
This move returns Weissbach to his hometown of Göteborg, Sweden, where Weissbach grew up through the Frölunda pipeline. He made his debut with the organization’s top club in 2016, though he only played in one game before moving to North America and pursuing a four-year career with the University of Wisconsin. He graduated college in 2021 and has since spent the last three seasons with the Rochester Americans, accumulating 117 points across 191 games in the minor leagues. But despite consistent production and a stout role in Rochester’s top-six, Weissbach was never the top option for a call-up, losing standing to more robust minor leaguers like Lukas Rousek and Brett Murray, and more recently bumped out by prospects like Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen.
With that logjam only increasing after Buffalo’s successful 2024 NHL Draft, Weissbach will change his focus to pursuing a career with his hometown club. Frölunda’s sporting director Fredrik Sjöström shared his excitement for the move, saying, “We have lost two offensively skilled players in [Malte Strömwall] and [Jere Innala]. We wanted to bring in offensive skill and “Weiss” is just that. He is a skilled forward with good speed and plays like a pattern breaker. He fits what we wanted. We’ve been on him for a while and knew we needed to wait for some other parameters before he could choose us (Linus has been a free agent in North America). But he did and we are happy about that, says Fredrik Sjöström, sports director.”
Other notes out of the minor leagues:
- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have added Nick Luukko as an assistant coach. Luukko, 32, has spent the last three seasons as the head coach and Director of Hockey Operations for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, leading the team to the postseason in each year, though they never made it past the second round. He earned the role with Jacksonville just two seasons after ending his own playing career – which spanned 274 ECHL games – after just one season as an ECHL assistant coach. He’ll now fast-track to the next level, joining a Penguins organization in the midst of cycling out much of their org chart.
- The Hartford Wolf Pack have hired Brendan Burke as a goaltending coach. Burke has spent the last two seasons as a goaltending coach for his former youth and junior hockey teams – the Phoenix Jr. Coyotes and Portland Winterhawks. He earned an NHL Draft selection with Portland in 2012-13, hearing his name called in the sixth round by his hometown Phoenix Coyotes. Burke is the son of legendary NHL goaltender Sean Burke, who is now serving as Vegas’ Director of Goaltending.
Jacob Trouba Likely To Remain With Rangers Next Season
After a healthy dose of trade rumors earlier in the offseason, it appears Rangers captain Jacob Trouba won’t be on the move this summer after all, reports Arthur Staple of The Athletic. Staple adds that “there was never anything close” in regards to a rumored deal around the draft that would have sent Trouba to the Red Wings, which he would have nixed anyway by placing Detroit on his 15-team no-trade list. A source also tells Staple that Rangers general manager Chris Drury has spoken to Trouba in the past few weeks to do some “fence-mending on the team’s part.”
One important consideration in any Trouba trade, as Staple highlights, is the lack of a suitable internal replacement. The Blueshirts don’t have a right-shot defenseman ready to take on everyday NHL minutes behind Adam Fox and Braden Schneider. They only have three RDs signed to NHL contracts outside of that trio – veteran depth defender Chad Ruhwedel, who’s best served as a No. 7, Casey Fitzgerald, who spent all of last season in the minors; and 22-year-old Victor Mancini, who’s a few years away from NHL consideration as he enters his first professional campaign. There aren’t any impact UFAs left on the market who would replace Trouba’s two-way, physically-oriented style of play, either.
It is clear that Trouba should expect a decreased workload in the Big Apple next season, though. The 30-year-old has averaged north of 21 minutes per game in all 11 of his NHL seasons, but that streak could come to an end with the younger Schneider set to be elevated into a top-four role after a strong end to the 2023-24 campaign. Trouba, who’s signed to an $8MM cap hit through 2025-26, is coming off arguably the most disappointing season of his career with 22 points (three goals, 19 assists) with a -7 rating in 69 games. He struggled to control possession, posting a career-low 47.2 CF% at even strength.
That down season, plus his hefty no-trade list, made his deal understandably difficult to move. Staple expects that to change next summer, calling the chances of a Trouba trade in the 2025 offseason “nearly certain.” That’s because the Rangers will need every inch of cap space available to re-sign RFAs Alexis Lafrenière, K’Andre Miller and top pending UFA netminder Igor Shesterkin, whose combined cap hits could very well total over $20MM.
A lack of a Trouba move indicates the Rangers are likely done with major moves for the summer. They have over $5.1MM in projected cap space remaining, per PuckPedia, but a solid chunk of that will go toward a new deal for RFA defender Ryan Lindgren.
Rangers, Matthew Robertson Agree To Two-Way Deal
The Rangers have come to terms on a new one-year deal for RFA defender Matthew Robertson, the team announced Monday. It’s a two-way deal, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post.
Robertson, 23, was coming off the final season of his entry-level contract. He’ll stick around in the Big Apple for at least another season while he tries to get what was once a promising development path back on track.
The 2019 second-round pick carries appealing size at 6’4″ and 201 lbs, but the left-shot defender hasn’t yet been able to work his way up to making his NHL debut. He received a handful of call-ups last season as injury insurance but didn’t get into any game action. He’s displayed solid puck-moving ability while on assignment to AHL Hartford, totaling 55 points over 190 games during his three professional campaigns. But like most of his teammates over the past few years, he hasn’t had a standout impact defensively, posting a cumulative -25 rating and never logging anything better than a -7.
With Erik Gustafsson out of the picture from last season’s defense group, there’s a little bit of increased opportunity for depth defenders in the Rangers organization. Robertson will hope to take advantage of that, but he’ll need to jockey for positioning with some more experienced names slated for minor-league action to start the year, such as Connor Mackey and UFA addition Casey Fitzgerald.
Robertson will be an RFA again next summer upon expiry.
Rangers Re-Sign Braden Schneider
The Rangers have agreed to terms with one of their remaining restricted free agents, announcing that they’ve reached a two-year contract with defenseman Braden Schneider. While financial terms were not disclosed, PuckPedia adds (Twitter link) that the agreement pays $1.76MM in 2024-25 and $2.64MM in 2025-26 for a $2.2MM AAV. That last number will serve as his qualifying offer in 2026 where he will have salary arbitration eligibility.
The 22-year-old was a first-round pick by New York in 2020, going 19th overall. He has been a full-time NHL regular since partway through his rookie professional season, giving him more than 200 career NHL appearances which is something that can’t be said for many players exiting their entry-level pacts.
However, Schneider has had a very limited role in his first three seasons. Last season, he played in all 82 games, notching 19 points along with 133 blocks and 167 hits. However, his playing time remained below the 16-minute mark, a number he has yet to surpass in those three years. Notably, even as a physical defensive defender, Schneider barely averaged one minute per game in shorthanded situations last season.
Between limited offensive output and what has basically been a permanent spot on the third pairing so far, a bridge contract was the only logical outcome for both sides. Schneider will need to play his way into a top-four opportunity over the next couple of years before he’ll have a chance to command a longer-term, bigger-money agreement.
With this signing, New York now has a little over $5.1MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. The majority of that will be earmarked for their last remaining restricted free agent, defenseman Ryan Lindgren. The 26-year-old filed for salary arbitration earlier this month with a hearing date yet to be set.
Lohud’s Vince Z. Mercogliano reported earlier this week that the two sides were making progress on a bridge agreement. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman first reported the terms of the deal.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Jacob Trouba Used No-Trade Protection To Block Deal To Detroit
- In a report from Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News and later confirmed by Emily Kaplan of ESPN, there was a trade in place between the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings that would have sent defenseman Jacob Trouba to his hometown team. However, with Trouba’s no-movement clause turning into a modified no-trade clause on July 1st, Trouba added Detroit to his list which entirely ended the deal. Trouba was hesitant to move his wife and family out of New York as his wife is finishing up her residency as a medical doctor as outlined in the report from Kaplan.
[SOURCE LINK]
Rangers Re-Sign Chad Ruhwedel To Two-Way Deal
The Rangers have signed defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to a one-year contract, the team announced Friday. The right-shot blue liner lands a two-way deal with a $775K cap hit, reports Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. He’ll earn $400K in the minors with a $450K guarantee, PuckPedia adds.
Ruhwedel, 34, had a challenging season in 2023-24. He made 47 appearances for the Penguins, where he’s suited up since signing as a free agent in 2016, scoring once and adding three assists for four points. While he’s never been relied upon for offense, he’s normally had serviceable possession metrics in a fringe bottom-pairing role. That wasn’t the case last season, though, as his 48.0 CF% and 46.9 xGF% were his worst as a Penguin. With Pittsburgh out of the playoff race, the Rangers picked Ruhwedel up at the trade deadline for some added blue-line insurance in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick. He played in just five regular season games down the stretch and didn’t see any playoff action for the Blueshirts, though.
But Ruhwedel does have a longer track record of serving as an above-average seventh defender, a form New York could be banking on him returning to. Since making his debut for the Sabres back in 2012-13, Ruhwedel has amassed 13 goals, 36 assists, 49 points and a -9 rating in 364 contests while averaging 15:08 per game. He’s historically managed average possession metrics and is a fine two-way talent to deploy in a third-pairing role, although he doesn’t have any upside on special teams.
The Rangers being able to bring Ruhwedel back on a two-way deal is a tad intriguing, considering he hasn’t seen AHL ice since a five-game stint in 2018-19. For now, he still projects to win a roster spot out of camp as an extra defenseman, although his path to regular minutes is disadvantageous with Adam Fox, Braden Schneider and Jacob Trouba ahead of him on their RD depth chart. He’d have a shot at competing with Zachary Jones for a steady third-pairing role if he were a lefty, but that isn’t the case. They have a vacancy there after Erik Gustafsson departed for the Red Wings in free agency.
With parts of 12 NHL seasons under his belt, Ruhwedel would be an attractive claim candidate if he hits waivers in the fall or during the season.
Steven Fogarty Announces Retirement
Longtime minor league fixture Steven Fogarty has retired, he announced on his personal Instagram account on Monday morning.
Fogarty, 31, played parts of six NHL seasons and totaled nine total seasons after turning pro after a collegiate career at Notre Dame in 2016. The Rangers selected him out of Minnesota’s Edina High in the third round of the 2011 draft, but he played an additional season of junior hockey with the BCHL’s Penticton Vees, plus a full four years with the Irish before turning pro and signing his entry-level deal with New York. Serving as a dependable call-up for four years and playing an important role on the farm with AHL Hartford, wearing the “C” there for his last season in the Rangers organization, he went without a point and posted a -2 rating in 18 appearances before becoming a UFA in 2020.
He landed on a one-year, two-way deal with the Sabres for the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, holding down a similar role to what he’d held in New York. Fogarty was named the captain of AHL Rochester that year but only played in 16 minor league games. He spent other chunks of the season on the taxi squad and briefly on the Sabres’ active roster, where he recorded his first and only three NHL points (one goal, two assists) in nine showings.
Fogarty spent the following three seasons on two-way deals with the Bruins and Wild, adding another four NHL appearances to bring his career total to 31. He’d spent the last two years under contract with Minnesota, where his last NHL action came in a two-game stint in November 2022. Fogarty spent all of 2023-24 on assignment to AHL Iowa, where he served as an alternate captain for the second season in a row and had 37 points (18 goals, 19 assists) in 69 games with a -21 rating.
A UFA for the past week, he now steps away from a lengthy minor-league career that included 106 goals, 162 assists, 268 points, 282 PIMs, and a -80 rating in 464 games in parts of nine AHL seasons, along with his three points in 31 NHL games. PHR congratulates Fogarty on his pro career and wishes him the best in his post-playing endeavors.
Rangers Loan Kalle Vaisanen To Finnish League For 2024-25 Season
Back in April, the Rangers signed winger Kalle Vaisanen to his entry-level deal and it looked like he’d be playing his first full season in North America in 2024-25. However, that won’t be the case as Ilves in Finland’s Liiga announced that New York has agreed to loan Vaisanen to them for the upcoming year although he might participate in training camp with the Rangers in the fall before going over.
The 21-year-old was a fourth-round pick by New York back in 2021, going 106th overall after a strong showing offensively in Finland’s junior system. Vaisanen has spent the last two full seasons at the top level but unfortunately for him, production has been rather difficult to come by. He had five points in 47 games in 2022-23 and only boosted that output to nine goals and five helpers in 58 games with TPS last season but impressed enough to get his first contract and a late-season stint with AHL Hartford.
While it would have made sense for Vaisanen to get a full season in with the Wolf Pack, they’ve decided it’s better to let him get another year in back at home though he’ll now do so with a new team. Once his campaign in Finland comes to an end, Vaisanen will likely return to North America and could very well get into a handful of games in Hartford as he did last season.
Ryan Lindgren Files For Arbitration
Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and originally produced by the National Hockey Leaguer Players’ Association, 14 players have elected for salary arbitration this summer. The deadline for team-elected arbitration is tomorrow. Friedman also notes the arbitration hearings will happen between July 20th and August 4th. To add context, not every one of these players will appear for a hearing with their respective teams as they may continue to negotiate on a new contract. However, each player who elects for salary arbitration is now prohibited from negotiating with other teams or signing an offer sheet. Here is a list of the players that have elected for arbitration:
F Beck Malenstyn (Buffalo Sabres)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (Buffalo Sabres)
F Martin Necas (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Jack Drury (Carolina Hurricanes)
D Jake Christiansen (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Jet Greaves (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Kirill Marchenko (Columbus Blue Jackets)
F Joe Veleno (Detroit Red Wings)
D Spencer Stastney (Nashville Predators)
F Oliver Wahlstrom (New York Islanders)
D Ryan Lindgren (New York Rangers)
D Ty Emberson (San Jose Sharks)
D J.J. Moser (Tampa Bay Lightning)
F Connor Dewar (Toronto Maple Leafs)