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Kaapo Kakko Still Not Cleared To Play

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Although there has been some recent speculation that New York Rangers’ forward, Kaapo Kakko, could be making his return soon, Larry Brooks of the New York Post states that is not the case. Unfortunately, Brooks notes that Kakko has still not been cleared to return to play, meaning the Rangers will have to call up a forward from their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, before their game on Thursday.

Suffering from a lower-body injury in late November, Kakko has been on the team’s long-term injured reserve since November 28th. Although he has satisfied the LTIR requirements to return by a healthy amount, team doctors clearly do not think he is ready to return.  In what is shaping up to be yet another disappointing season for Kakko, he has skated in 20 games for the Rangers up to this point in the season, scoring two goals and three points all while averaging about 13 and a half minutes a night.

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  •  Heading a few miles east of the Rangers, the New York Islanders will see the reinforcement of Adam Pelech tonight, as Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News reports that the defenseman will make his return to the ice after missing the last 20 games. With additional injuries on the blue line, the addition of Pelech back into the lineup should give a major boost to the Islanders’ defensive core, as he has historically been one of the best defenders in the organization. Through 16 games so far this season, Pelech has tallied three assists, averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time per game.

Rangers Assign Brennan Othmann To AHL

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The Rangers assigned winger Brennan Othmann to AHL Hartford on Tuesday morning, the team announced. NHL.com’s Dan Rosen reports the Rangers are expected to replace Othmann’s spot on the active roster with a corresponding recall from Hartford later today.

Othmann, 21, was the Rangers’ 16th overall pick in the 2021 draft and just completed his first NHL stint. Signed to his entry-level deal shortly after the 2021 draft in August, his contract slid for two seasons because the Rangers returned him to the OHL’s Flint Firebirds to begin the 2021-22 and 2022-23 campaigns. Now that he’s old enough for a full-time AHL assignment under the NHL-CHL transfer agreement, Othmann started his professional career in earnest last Fall. He’s impressed thus far with Hartford, recording nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points in 28 games, ranking fourth on the team in each metric.

After veteran fourth-liner Tyler Pitlick sustained a lower-body injury last week, the Rangers brought Othmann up on an emergency loan to gauge his NHL readiness. He impressed in his first showing, recording five shots on goal in 12:26 of ice time against the Blackhawks in his NHL debut on January 4, but registered under eight minutes of ice time and one shot on goal in the following two games. He’ll head back to the minors, still searching for his first NHL point after averaging 9:05 and posting a subpar 48.2% Corsi share despite extensive offensive zone usage at even strength in three contests.

Sending Othmann down leaves the Rangers with only 11 healthy forwards, but as Rosen mentions, that number will jump back to 12 later today. The Rangers, who lost 6-3 to the Canucks last night, don’t play again until Thursday in St. Louis.

Latest On Kaapo Kakko

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New York Rangers forward Kaapo Kakko joined the team’s skate this morning in a red no-contact jersey, according to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. This is believed to be the first instance of Kakko at Rangers practice since the forward suffered a leg injury in November.

While Kakko is likely still a decent way off from a full-on return to the Rangers, this is undeniably encouraging news. The 22-year-old’s injury has left the Rangers thinner at their right wing position compared to just about any other position on their roster, and despite his slow start to the year, Kakko had a career year last season with 18 goals and 40 points.

Rangers Recall Brennan Othmann, Tyler Pitlick Week-To-Week With Injury

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The New York Rangers have recalled top prospect Brennan Othmann from the AHL. Othmann currently ranks fourth on the Hartford Wolf Pack in scoring and eighth among all AHL rookies with nine goals and 23 points in 28 games. This is the first recall of Othmann’s career after going 16th-overall in the 2021 NHL Draft. He is one of two players from that round to be recalled on Wednesday, with the Los Angeles Kings recalling eighth-overall pick Brandt Clarke. Othmann be looking to become the 16th player from the 2021 First Round to make his NHL debut.

New York also shared that forward Tyler Pitlick is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. This could set up Othmann to make his NHL debut in New York’s Thursday night matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks. Pitlick has three points in 28 appearances this season.

The Rangers signed Othmann to a three-year, $4.1MM entry-level contract in 2021 that is effective from 2023-24 to 2025-26, with the Rangers receiving two entry level slides from Othmann staying in the OHL.

Othmann was traded midway through last year’s OHL season, moving from the Flint Firebirds to the Peterborough Petes. He would go on to serve as the team’s leading scorer through the postseason, netting 25 points in 23 games as Peterborough won the OHL championship and made it to the semifinal game of the 2023 Memorial Cup. Othmann was one of many NHL prospects on the championship-winning Petes lineup, joining Seattle’s Tucker Robertson, Vancouver’s Connor Lockhart, Philadelphia’s J.R. Avon, and New Jersey’s Chase Stillman.

Morning Notes: Anisimov, Moser, Lazar

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Artem Anisimov isn’t ready to call it quits just yet, signing a professional try-out contract with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. This brings Anisimov back into the New York Rangers organization, the same place he started his career after going 54th overall in the 2006 NHL Draft. Anisimov played in two seasons for Hartford after being drafted, scoring a strong 124 points in 154 games. The scoring was strong enough to earn him his NHL debut in 2009, with Anisimov quickly becoming an everyday NHL talent with 18 goals and 44 points in 82 games during his sophomore 2010-11 season.

Anisimov was moved to the Columbus Blue Jackets after four seasons with the Rangers. He spent three more in Columbus, before spending four years in Chicago and two in Ottawa. All the while, Anisimov remained a fantastic depth scorer, recording four seasons of 20-or-more goals in his nine seasons outside of New York. His career totaled 771 games and 376 points before Anisimov slipped away from the NHL, moving to Russia’s KHL for the 2021-22 season and spending last year with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms of the AHL. The 35-year-old centerman managed 19 goals and 36 points in 55 AHL games last year, suggesting that he may have some more left in the tank. He’ll have a chance to prove that now back where his career started.

More notes from around the league:

  • J.J. Moser is set to return to the Arizona Coyotes lineup on Tuesday. The young defender missed two games after suffering an upper-body injury on December 23rd. Moser is in his third NHL season and has 15 points and a +8 through 33 games on the year. It’s the first time in Moser’s young career that he’s had a positive +/-.
  • Curtis Lazar returned to the New Jersey Devils’ practice on Tuesday, after missing the team’s last three games with a lower-body injury. Lazar has been designated as day-to-day and was a game-time decision for both Friday and Saturday. Lazar has been an important piece of the Devils lineup when he can go, netting four goals and 10 points through 30 games this season.

Rangers Assign Adam Edstrom To AHL

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Sunday: Edstrom’s second stint with the Rangers was short-lived as the team announced that he has been sent back to the Wolf Pack.  Edstrom did not see any game action while on recall.

Thursday: The Rangers recalled forward Adam Edstrom from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack on Thursday, per a team release. This is the first non-emergency recall in his career.

Edstrom, 23, made his NHL debut before the holiday break, scoring one goal on three shots in 9:39 of ice time against the Ducks on December 17. The hulking 6-foot-6 Swedish center gives the Rangers some injury insurance as a 13th forward for their two-game road swing through Florida to close out 2023.

Drafted by the Rangers in the sixth round in 2019, Edstrom played three years with Rögle in the Swedish Hockey League before signing his entry-level contract shortly after the 2021-22 season concluded. The Rangers again loaned him out to Rögle last season, where he notched a career-high nine goals and 19 points in 42 games. To end the campaign, they assigned him to Hartford for his first taste of North American pro hockey after Skellefteå eliminated Rögle in the quarterfinals of the SHL playoffs.

Edstrom began this season in Hartford as expected. His eight goals in 24 games rank fifth on the Wolf Pack, a good start for a player widely viewed as having a limited offensive ceiling. Edstrom’s best-case scenario is still panning out as a third-line checking center, but so far, he looks to be in quite a solid place in his development for such a late-round pick.

Could The Rangers Target Grit At The Deadline?

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The Rangers could be prioritizing adding some grit over another skilled forward, reports Lohud’s Vince Z. Mercogliano.  That type of player would ideally then help shore up their defensive play in the bottom six as well.  At the moment, New York has ample spending room with both Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko on LTIR but if both of those players return by the end of the season, that spending flexibility becomes much more limited.  Accordingly, doing some scouting work on an impactful gritty depth player who doesn’t cost as much against the salary cap could be a wise course of action for them for now.

Chytil Returns Home To Czechia, Still Hopes To Return This Season

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Rangers center Filip Chytil has returned to his native Czechia as he continues his recovery from a suspected concussion sustained back in early November, reports Larry Brooks of the New York Post.  While the 24-year-old has made some progress skating on his own, this move will basically serve as somewhat of a reset in his recovery.  While there, Chytil will keep skating while working with the trainer and skills coach that he works with in the offseason.  There is no word for how long he’ll be at home but Brooks notes that Chytil is committed to returning this season.  Chytil had a career year last season with 45 points and was off to a nice start this year before the injury, collecting six assists in ten contests.

Could Michael Peca Attract Head Coaching Offers This Summer?

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  • Larry Brooks of the New York Post examines (subscription link) the impact that Michael Peca has had on the Rangers’ coaching staff. He has been assigned to work on the power play and faceoffs this season and New York reached the break leading the league in both categories, checking in at 31.1% and 54.8% respectively.  Accordingly, Brooks wonders if the long-time NHL center might attract consideration for a head coaching job this summer.  This is his first season behind an NHL bench while he has two years as an assistant with AHL Rochester as well.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: New York Rangers

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As the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the New York Rangers.

Who are the Rangers thankful for?

Jonathan Quick.

The New York Rangers haven’t had to worry about much this season, championing a 23-8-1 record that places them second in the NHL. But if there’s one player that’s encapsulated their success this season, it’s first-year Ranger Jonathan Quick, who’s satisfying a dream by finally making his way to New York. And Quick has jumped at the chance, revitalizing what seemed like a lost career. After recording a save percentage below .900 in three of his last five seasons before this year, Quick is not boasting an impressive .920 save percentage through 12 games, tallying a 9-1-1 record to boot. The Rangers don’t need to turn to him much, with Vezina-winner Igor Shesterkin still looking worthy of the award, but Quick has done a lot to completely solidify the Rangers’ crease, helping the team stick in the Top 10 of fewest-goals-allowed this season.

The 38-year-old Quick is on a one-year, $825K contract with the Rangers signed on July 1st. The netminder is in his 17th NHL season, playing 16 years with the Los Angeles Kings and winning one of his two Stanley Cups over the New York Rangers in 2014. He’ll now look to serve as a key support for New York’s own run to the Cup this year.

What are the Rangers thankful for?

A hardy offense.

The Rangers are scoring more this year than they have in any season since the turn of the century, averaging 3.34 goals per game through their first 32 games. What’s more, the scoring has been spread throughout the lineup, with the team carrying 11 different players with 10 or more points. Setting up their offensive systems has been the focus of New York’s game this season, carried on the back of Artemi Panarin’s 44 points in 32 games, a mark that ranks sixth in the NHL. Panarin is flanked on the statsheet by Mika Zibanejad’s 33 points and Chris Kreider’s 30 points in as many games. There’s even scoring on New York’s injured reserve, with the hurt Filip Chytil putting up six assists in the 10 games that he managed to appear in.

Having such a wide array of scoring talent has worked incredibly well for the Rangers’ power-play: the most effective power-play in the league with a 31.1 percent success rate. It’s the second-most effective power-play in the NHL since 2000, only behind the 2022-23 Edmonton Oilers who carried an impressive 32.4 percent success rate through 82 games.

It hasn’t been since the 2016-17 season that a Rangers team ranked in the top 10 of goals-for in the league. They haven’t managed that feat this year just yet – ranked 11th in goals-for with 108 – but with games in hand and a healthy roster, New York is entering the second half of the year with one of the best forward groups they’ve had in a long time.

What would the Rangers be even more thankful for?

Draft picks.

With so much going right for the Rangers, it’s unfortunate that they only have four first, second, or third round picks until 2026. This comes after the team has made just two first round picks in the last three drafts, significantly holding back their ability to build out a prospect pool that can support the NHL club for the long-term. With the low quantity of picks, it’s become a game of quality over quantity for New York, who have seen promising years from some of their top prospects. 2023 First Round selection Gabe Perreault is looking dazzling through his first 17 collegiate games, netting 25 points while playing alongside juniors hockey teammates Will Smith and Ryan Leonard. Fellow first-rounder Brennan Othmann is also coming into his own this year, with 22 points in the first 26 AHL games of his career. He’s followed on the statsheet by Ryder Korczak and Adam Sykora, who both have 11 points in 24 and 25 AHL games respectively. The success of so many first-year pros speaks praise to Steve Smith’s Hartford Wolf Pack, who currently rank second in the AHL’s Atlantic Division.

The Rangers have their First Round pick in each of the next three drafts – all three boasting seriously high-end talent at the top of the class – and even have a Second Round pick in 2024. But with no guarantee that they’ll be able to continue reeling in successful prospects, the team will need to make sure to keep the future in mind.

What should be on the Rangers holiday wish list?

A willing buyer at the Trade Deadline.

There’s very little reason to rock the boat in New York. The team is performing well, boosted by Adam Fox’s return to play. But even with the current roster clicking so well, the Rangers are still carrying NHL-talents Kaapo Kakko and Chytil on IR. No timeline has been provided for either player’s return but they could create a logjam when they work their way back into the lineup. While not necessarily a bad issue to have, the Rangers could be in a prime position to bring in a few assets if they’re able to deal one of their extra NHL forwards to a team who hasn’t had as much top-to-bottom lineup success. It’d be a shrewd way to make their assets work for them, although having plenty of forward depth can be an ace up the sleeve during the postseason. If the Rangers are open to trades will certainly be one question – but with so much going right for the club, there’s no doubting that they’ll have plenty of interested parties flocking their way come the Trade Deadline.

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