New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are among the 24 teams set to participate in the NHL's restart, yet star forward Artemi Panarin doesn't believe the players have reached a deal fair enough for them to return to the ice.

In a tweet Thursday, the 28-year-old called for players not to report for camp until financial issues, specifically escrow, have been resolved.

https://twitter.com/artemiypanarin/status/1276238515408338948

Most importantly, Panarin called for unity among players in trying to reach new terms with the league's owners.

Here's how the current agreement looks per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski:

"The current financial system in the NHL involves a 50/50 split in revenue between the players and owners. The escrow system, which calls for a percentage of withholding from players' paychecks each season, maintains that balance by either funneling money back to the owners in the case of a revenue shortfall, or having it refunded to the players.

"The players anticipate a massive escrow hit after the NHL paused its season on March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic and also because the league plans to restart the season without fans in the stands.

"The NHL is one of the most gate-driven major sports in North America."

While the NHLPA has agreed to the league's plan for the restart, there is no deal completed to send players back to training camp yet.

Panarin, who broke into the league with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015, is a former Calder Trophy winner as the league's Rookie of the Year who has developed into a prolific scorer over his five-year NHL career.

In 2019-20, he's recorded 95 points (32 goals, 63 assists), though the Rangers struggled over the course of the regular season, going 37-28-5 (79 points) and placing second-to-last in the Metropolitan Division.

New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist hinted Sunday that his time with the team could be coming to an end. 

"We'll see what happens in the future," he said on the Luuk & Hallberg show (h/t Danny Abriano of SNY). "A lot happened to me during the year. I played less."

He continued:

"Nothing lasts forever, you have a goal image and dream, but one must also adapt to the surroundings and reality. This summer we will see what happens. I've always seen myself [playing for the] Rangers and [that lasting] for a very long time."

Lundqvist, 38, has made just 26 starts (30 appearances) for the Rangers this season, posting a 10-12-3 record with a 3.66 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. Alexandar Georgiev made the most starts (34) for the Rangers this season, while prospect Igor Shesterkin (12 starts) flashed his exciting upside when he got to play, going 10-2 with a 2.52 GAA and a .932 save percentage.

He's clearly the goalie of the future in New York.

Who is Igor Shesterkin's idol?

"Lundqvist. He was, he is, and he always will be my idol"

(h/t @kvadr1412) pic.twitter.com/DpA49CvPZ8

— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) April 5, 2020

The question for the Rangers is whether they will play again this season. It's possible the NHL will simply bypass the regular season once the league returns from its hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic and go directly into postseason play.

For a Rangers team trailing the Columbus Blue Jackets by two points for the final wild-card spot, that could mean the end of their season. And it could mean the end for Lundqvist, though he's still under contract through the 2020-21 season.

"I had a certain role in the team for almost 15 years," he said. "I knew exactly the conditions. Now it changed sharply. So I think a lot daily, almost every hour, for months. It gets pretty hard mentally. Now that I am home I focus on my family and gather my thoughts. Then maybe I'll start thinking about the future for a while."

The league has also reportedly kicked around the idea of a 24-team playoff format, which could include the Rangers depending on how it was formatted. Lundqvist might then be given the swan song he deserves. But even in that scenario, the Swede may struggle to get a game given the superior play of Georgiev and Shesterkin.

However, having the experienced Lundqvist available for a must-win game, with the hope he could turn back the clock and provide some of his old magic, would be a far more suiting close to his Rangers career than the current trajectory.

When the NHL season was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic, the New York Rangers were out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

If the season resumes and they miss out, Madison Square Garden would be without postseason hockey for the third straight year. So it's not too much of a surprise that there has been some buzz around roster moves that the Rangers could make this offseason.

One rumor involves goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who has played for New York for his entire 15-year NHL career. However, the 38-year-old may have played his final game for the Rangers.

Larry Brooks of the New York Post is expecting New York to buy out Lundqvist and move forward with Igor Shesterkin and Alex Georgiev as its goaltender duo.

Lundqvist is projected to make $5.5 million ($8.5 million cap hit) in the 2020-21 season, the final year of his deal. But if the Rangers don't plan to utilize him, it would make sense for the two sides to cut ties before then. According to Puckpedia, buying out their longtime netminder would open up $3 million in cap space next season.

In 2019-20, Lundqvist played in only 30 games and made just 26 starts, leaving him on pace to set career lows in both categories. He also had career worsts in save percentage (.905) and goals-against average (3.16).

It's likely there will still be teams interested in bringing in Lundqvist should he become a free agent, but it's understandable why the Rangers are ready to move forward with Shesterkin and Georgiev, who are both 24. In 12 games this season, the former went 10-2, posting a .932 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average. Georgiev had a .910 save percentage and 3.04 goals-against average in 34 games.

Lundqvist discussed his future earlier this season, and he's aware of the possibility of change.

"I've been very open with the management the two years," Lundqvist said in February, according to Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Journal News. "I've been through this [rebuilding] process that. If there comes a day where they feel like I'm not a good solution, let's talk about it. Let's be open about it."

Another potential move the Rangers could make this offseason is adding a center. Brooks noted they "surely will seek to bulk up down the middle," adding that Ryan Strome's contract status (he is set to become a restricted free agent) and Filip Chytil readiness for an expanded role could influence whether they bring in somebody to take over on the second line.

However, Brooks is ruling out a potential trade for Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who has only one year left on his contract.

A Zoom call between New York Rangers prospect K'Andre Miller and 500 Rangers fans turned ugly when an unknown person abused the chat function to repeatedly direct a racial slur at the 20-year-old.

The Rangers released the following statement on the incident:

A statement from #NYR: pic.twitter.com/Jo1RNmUdrr

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 3, 2020

The NHL soon followed suit:

Statement from the National Hockey League: pic.twitter.com/ykOTlDas6u

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) April 3, 2020

The Rangers took the defenseman 22nd overall in the 2018 NHL draft. He played college hockey for the University of Wisconsin from 2018-2020 and played for Team USA at the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Miller signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Rangers on March 14, per Vince Z. Mercogliano of lohud.com.

Hemal Jhaveri of For The Win speculated the incident may have been another example of Zoombombing, "where bad faith actors access chats for the sole purpose of posting hate speech and/or pornography."

Taylor Lorenz and Davey Alba of the New York Times wrote that Zoom "has become a target for harassment and abuse coordinated in private off-platform chats."

The practice has become so prominent the FBI issued a release on it, writing in part that the organization "has received multiple reports of conferences being disrupted by pornographic and/or hate images and threatening language."

Zoom will be making changes to its privacy policies, per Josh Constine of Tech Crunch. The company will mandate passwords for entrances to calls through Meeting ID. Furthermore, the "Waiting Room" option will now be on by default, forcing hosts to manually admit attendees.

New York Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist announced Thursday he will donate $100,000 to Food Bank for New York City along with his wife, Therese:

So many people are doing so many good things for others right now. Me and my wife Therese feel inspired. We have decided to donate $100.000 through our Foundation HLF to support @FoodBank4NYC (1/3) pic.twitter.com/s49VS5RfWo

— Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist) March 25, 2020

.. @FoodBank4NYC always do a great job but now more than ever they need that extra support while they feed New Yorkers in need. 68.000 meals to 8000 kids and their families is a good start.
(2/3)

— Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist) March 25, 2020

If you want to help, check out @HlundqvistFDN or go to https://t.co/CeQF9Unvsj for more info.
Together we are strong! 🙏🏻
(3/3)

— Henrik Lundqvist (@HLundqvist) March 25, 2020

The goalie has spent his entire 15-year NHL career with the Rangers and has found a way to give back to the community in need.

The state of New York has been hit the hardest by the coronavirus in the United States, with about half of the more than 74,000 confirmed cases nationwide and 285 deaths as of Thursday, per CNN.com. 

Lundqvist's donation will help families affected, either medically or financially.

Other local sports stars have helped, including Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, who donated $323,000 to Feeding America to help those in the New York area, per Shams Charania of Stadium and The Athletic.

Various teams, players and owners have also donated to different programs. Among them, New Orleans Saints star Drew Brees said Thursday he will donate $5 million to the state of Louisiana.

New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad will never forget March 5, 2020.   

The 26-year-old scored five goals to propel the Rangers to a 6-5 victory over the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, and he made history in the process: 

#NYR Mika Zibanejad is the first NHL player to score 5 goals in a game with the 5th goal being the OT winner since Sergei Fedorov on December 26, 1996 vs...the Capitals.

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 6, 2020

Smile if you're the first Ranger since 1983 to score 5 goals in a game pic.twitter.com/6rMZN9BNIV

— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) March 6, 2020

With the @NYRangers's overtime winner, @MikaZibanejad became the first player in 2019-20 to score five goals in a game. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/OBgFMr13AR

— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) March 6, 2020

Mika Zibanejad is just the third player in #NYR’s 94-year history to score 5 goals in a game. He’s the fourth #NHL player in the 21st century (Gaborik 2007, Franzen 2011 and Laine 2018) to accomplish the feat.

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) March 6, 2020

Zibanejad went back and forth with 12-time All-Star Alex Ovechkin in the third period.

He put the Rangers up 4-3 just 12 seconds into the final period of regulation before Ovechkin tied things nine minutes later. Not to be outdone, Zibanejad scored on the power play at the 18:18 mark to put New York ahead again. Ovechkin sent the game into overtime with his second goal of the game at the 19:17 mark.

Absolutely whipped by Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8).

Oh, and that's No. 46 this season. pic.twitter.com/zpQwKW8zHt

— NHL (@NHL) March 6, 2020

What a night for @MikaZibanejad as he completes the @Enterprise hatty and adds a fourth... just for fun. pic.twitter.com/3JcFdqn8Ns

— NHL (@NHL) March 6, 2020

Zibanejad had the final word just seconds into the overtime period:

An absolute beauty for @MikaZibanejad's fifth of the night... AND WINS THE GAME IN OT. pic.twitter.com/Op2OytRYRa

— NHL (@NHL) March 6, 2020

The 36-27-4 Rangers have now beaten 40-20-7 Washington in two of their three meetings so far this season.  

Zibanejad's stellar outing gave him 38 goals through 54 games, pushing him further ahead of Artemi Panarin (32) for the most of any Rangers player so far in the 2019-20 NHL season.

The former Ottawa Senator had already surpassed his own personal best for goals in a single season. The Sweden native had previously set a career high by scoring 30 goals across 82 games for the Rangers last season. He is the NHL's fifth-best scorer behind Ovechkin (47), David Pastrnak (47), Auston Matthews (46) and Leon Draisaitl (43).

The 2011 sixth overall pick summarized his five goals as being "at the right spot at the right time" when meeting with the media afterward:

Mika Zibanejad can't fully wrap his head around scoring 5 goals:

"It's a night I'll remember for a long time" pic.twitter.com/XzIRizFQbp

— Rangers Videos (@SNYRangers) March 6, 2020

Zibanejad was most happy the Rangers got the win, and it did have some noteworthy implications in the league standings. With Washington's loss and the Philadelphia Flyers' eighth straight win, the two are tied atop the Metropolitan Division with 87 points apiece.

New York is in the hunt for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 76 points, behind the Columbus Blue Jackets (79) and New York Islanders (78).

New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin and right wing Pavel Buchnevich were involved in a car crash Sunday night in Brooklyn.

Rangers president John Davidson announced that both suffered non-life-threatening injuries when a vehicle attempted a U-turn in front of their car, causing a collision. 

Shesterkin, who was driving, suffered a non-displaced rib fracture. Buchnevich was "shaken up" but did not suffer any major injuries and will be listed as day-to-day.

"The estimate right now is that he will be reassessed regarding his injury in a couple of weeks," Davidson told reporters of Shesterkin. "In our business, you're certainly dealt curveballs all the time. That's a tough curveball we have to deal with."

Shesterkin has emerged as the Rangers' top goaltender since his January call-up, posting a 9-1-0 record with a 2.23 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. His ascent led to the benching of Henrik Lundqvist, a Rangers legend who began showing signs of age the last two seasons.

Lundqvist, 37, has made just five appearances in the last two months. It's likely he'll get more playing time with Shesterkin out of the lineup, though Alexandar Georgiev will get the first crack at being the Rangers' primary starter.

Buchnevich has 37 points (14 goals, 23 assists) in his first 61 appearances this season. He's six points away from matching his career-best mark set in 2017-18. 

                                                                       

The New York Rangers announced Monday they have signed left wing Chris Kreider to a seven-year extension:

Done deal. #Extended pic.twitter.com/mSLuFz8Ypd

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 24, 2020

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the deal will pay the 28-year-old about $6.5 million per year.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN provided more contract details:

Kreider deal (7 x $6.5M AAV) is front-loaded and has some no-move protection which would rule out Seattle expansion exposure

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) February 24, 2020

Rick Carpiniello of The Athletic first reported the extension, noting this takes him out of potential trades ahead of Monday's deadline.

Kreider has spent his entire eight-year career with the Rangers and already has over 20 assists in 2019-20 for the seventh straight season. He also has 24 goals entering Monday, just short of his career high of 28.

With Kreider initially heading into free agency in the offseason and the team struggling in the first half of the season, New York appeared ready to deal away the talented player.

According to Frank Seravalli of TSN, the player was No. 1 on the Trade Bait Board with the Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins emerging as front-runners on a potential deal. However, the team decided to hold on to the veteran and stay competitive this season.

Though the Rangers are still just seventh out of eight teams in the Metropolitan division entering Monday, they have won seven of the last eight games and are 10-3-0 since the All-Star break.

Retaining a key player who ranks fourth on the team with 45 points could potentially energize the squad for the remainder of the year.

Considering the length of the deal, New York also clearly feels Kreider should be a player to build around going forward.

The New York Rangers announced Friday that they came to terms on a new contract with restricted free-agent defenseman Jacob Trouba and avoided arbitration.

According to SiriusXM NHL Network, the contract is worth $56 million over seven years.

The Rangers acquired Trouba from the Winnipeg Jets in June for defenseman Neal Pionk and a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL draft.

Trouba, 25, spent the first six seasons of his NHL career with the Jets after they selected him with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2012 NHL draft. In 408 career regular-season games, he has registered 42 goals and 137 assists for 179 points.

The 6'2", 202-pound blueliner is coming off a career year, as he appeared in all 82 games for the first time and finished with eight goals and 42 assists for a personal-best 50 points.

Per Cap Friendly, the Rangers gave Trouba a contract that is comparable to ones signed by some of the NHL's top defensemen in recent years:

Jacob Trouba
New York #Rangers
7 years x $8M

Most comparable contracts:
Player (Signing team)
1. Pietrangelo (STL)
2. Ekblad (FLA)
3. Leddy (NYI)
4. Subban (MTL) https://t.co/wO75b4aUCt pic.twitter.com/rpRHt7RBNf

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 19, 2019

While it can be argued that New York overpaid slightly, there is a lot to like about Trouba given his age and the fact that he is trending in an upward direction.

He is an unquestioned top-pairing defenseman for the Rangers, and NYR Stats & Info pointed out that few defensemen in the league are as complete as Trouba:

Jacob Trouba was one of six NHL defensemen who logged at least 200:00 of shorthanded ice time and 150:00 of power play ice time in 2018-19 (along with Drew Doughty, Roman Josi, John Carlson, Ryan Ellis, and Mark Giordano). #NYR

— NY Rangers PR (@NYR_PR) July 19, 2019

Since reaching the playoffs in 11 of 12 seasons from 2005-06 through 2016-17, the Rangers have been heading in the wrong direction. They have missed the playoffs in each of the past two campaigns and are coming off a season that saw them finish with just 78 points.

The Blueshirts seem to be gearing up for a run back toward playoff contention in the Eastern Conference, though, with the addition of Trouba and the signing of All-Star forward Artemi Panarin this offseason.

They join a talented group that includes forwards Mike Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Lias Andersson, Filip Chytil and Pavel Buchnevich, as well as defensemen Brady Skjei and Marc Staal, along with veteran goalie Henrik Lundqvist.

With Trouba giving the Rangers a much-needed No. 1 defenseman, they may have enough to compete for a playoff spot as soon as next season.

Veteran winger Artemi Panarin will bring his scoring prowess to the New York Rangers after agreeing to a deal Monday. 

The Rangers confirmed the agreement after Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada reported Panarin's contract will be for seven years and $81.5 million. 

Panarin spent the previous two seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 27-year-old set a career high with 87 points and 59 assists in 2018-19, leading the team in both categories and helping them win their first playoff series in franchise history. 

Prior to joining the Blue Jackets, Panarin had a long path to the NHL after going undrafted in 2010. He spent five years in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League, eventually signing a two-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks in April 2015. 

In his first NHL season, Panarin finished second on the Blackhawks in goals (30), assists (47) and points (77). He won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie and was named to the All-Star team in his second season. 

The Blue Jackets were in a tricky financial spot this offseason. Panarin is one of five free agents for the team, leaving them with the possibility of up to $30.2 million in cap space. 

Despite making three straight playoff appearances, the Blue Jackets have just one series win to show for it. They finished last season outside the top 10 in goals scored (258) and goals allowed (232). 

Panarin has proven his worth to Columbus over the past two seasons, but this was also his first real opportunity to score a significant and lucrative long-term deal. 

For the Rangers, he'll provide some major scoring punch and is the cherry on top of a solid offseason that also included the acquisition of Kaapo Kakko, Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox.