Brendan Lemieux

New York Rangers Trade Brendan Lemieux to Los Angeles

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The New York Rangers have announced that have acquired a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Brendan Lemieux.

Lemieux skated in a bottom-six role with the Rangers, generating seven points, 65 hits, and 59 PIM across 31 games. The 25-year-old likely will play a similar role with the Kings. He may need to quarantine once he arrives in Los Angeles.

Lemieux was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres at 31st overall (1st pick of 2nd round) of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. He had previously played for the Winnipeg Jets as well as the Rangers.

He was acquired by the Rangers in a deal at the trade deadline, along with a 2019 first-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick, in exchange for Kevin Hayes on February 25, 2019.

 

 

 

The New York Rangers agree to terms with Brendan Lemieux

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The New York Rangers and Brendan Lemieux have settled on a two-year contract, avoiding arbitration. As reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the deal carries an average annual value of $1.55 million.

Lemieux was selected by Buffalo in the second round, 31st overall, of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Lemieux was acquired by the Rangers from Winnipeg on February 25, 2019.

The 6-1, 213-pounder has skated in 131 career NHL games over parts of three seasons (2017-18 – 2019-20) with Winnipeg and the Rangers, registering 19 goals and 17 assists for 36 points, along with 240 penalty minutes. Lemieux is one of two NHL players who have recorded at least 100 penalty minutes in each of the last two seasons (along with Evander Kane). He ranked second in the NHL (min. 20 games played) in minor penalties drawn per 60 minutes of ice time in 2018-19 (2.63), and he leads the NHL (min. 20 games played) in penalties drawn per 60 minutes of ice time since the start of the 2018-19 season (2.84). Lemieux has skated in 78 games with the Rangers over parts of two seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20), registering nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points, along with 155 penalty minutes.

Lemieux skated in 59 games with the Rangers this past season, registering six goals and 12 assists for 18 points, along with 111 penalty minutes. He established career-highs in several categories in 2019-20, including assists, points, penalty minutes, and hits (164). Lemieux ranked second in the NHL in penalty minutes and tied for fifth in the league in major penalties (five) this past season. In addition, he ranked third in the NHL (min. 30 games played) in penalties drawn per 60 minutes of ice time (2.53) and ranked seventh in the NHL in penalties drawn (32) in 2019-20. Lemieux led the Rangers in penalties drawn and ranked second on the team (led team forwards) in hits this past season, and the Rangers posted a 12-3-1 record in games which he registered a point in 2019-20. He also skated in one game during the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

 

 

Hearing dates set for the 4 Rangers players who filed for salary arbitration

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The next step for the New York Rangers battle against the salary cap was announced on Tuesday with the announcement of dates for salary arbitration hearings.

With four Blueshirts filing for arbitration, Anthony DeAngelo, Alexandar Georgiev, Ryan Strome, and Brendan Lemieux, Jeff Gorton will look to sign all of these players before the hearings are conducted.

Salary arbitration hearings will be held from Oct. 20 through Nov. 8. A player can sign a contract with his current team any time before an arbitrator’s ruling. More times than not a player and the respected team will settle on a  new deal prior to the hearings. Last year, 40 players filled for arbitration with only six going to an arbitration hearing.

The Ranger’s biggest contract concern has to be Strome’s impending deal. Strome just completed a two-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers that netted him $6.2 million.  He is looking for at least a four or five-year deal probably in the neighborhood of $5- million per year. At the conclusion of his next contract signed, Strome will be an unrestricted Free Agent, so a one year deal would not be optimal for Gorton and the club.

The Rangers are in a tight salary cap situation because of two reasons. The club has to pay out approximately $13 million in buyout money this season.  Dan Girardi ($1.1 million), Ryan Spooner ($300,000), Kevin Shattenkirk ($6.083 million), and Henrik Lundqvist ($5.5 million) will all have their buyout payments held against the salary cap.

 Signing bonuses

The second factor to understand is signing bonuses. NHL teams are allowed a 7.5 % “performance bonus cushion” that is not held against the team’s salary cap.

 

Any bonuses that exceed the cushion are held against the team’s cap. The Rangers added to that factor on Monday when they agreed to terms with Alexis Lafreniere.   The Blueshirts now have a projected cap space of $18,804,367 which includes a $2.85 million performance bonus.

As things stand after that announcement, Gorton’s club will have a $3.95 million penalty added to their cap hit. This would leave almost $19 million in projected cap space before the team has signed any of their four RFA’s.

Arbitration dates announced

The NHLPA announced its arbitration dates for each player on Tuesday evening. Gorton and John Davidson are now on the clock to get these players signed before each player’s hearing.

DeAngelo – Oct. 20
Georgiev – Oct. 31
Strome – Nov. 5
Lemieux – Nov. 6

For the most part, the Rangers and their players who have filed for arbitration have been able to avoid going to an actual hearing with both sides agreeing on deals. The most recent time any Blueshirts went through with the hearing process was Sean Avery and Nikolai Zherdev in 2007.

A player cannot walk away from an arbitrated decision, but the Rangers can can walk away from any award of more than $4.538 million should they decide not to accept the arbitration award. The player would become an unrestricted free agent immediately.

The salary cap crunch the Rangers find themselves in right now, along with many teams in the NHL, could see them going through the hearing process this year.

I cannot see the team letting a player just leave, so an unwarranted decision against the team could leverage the club to make a trade to help resolve their cap problems.

News and Notes from New York Rangers Camp

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New York Rangers, Artemi Panarin

One week out from their exhibition game with the Islanders, the New York Rangers continue to work toward getting in game-ready shape for their playoff tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes. Recently, Ryan Lindgren told the media that “Coach Quinn talked about it today before the practice that we need to amp it up. This week’s going to be huge for us.” With that in mind here are some other bits of news that have surfaced recently concerning the Blueshirts.

Panarin named a finalist for Hart Trophy.

Artemi Panarin, along with Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl and Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon have been named finalists for the Hart Trophy.

The annual award is given “to the player judged most valuable to his team” and is voted on by Professional Hockey Writers Association.

Concerning the nomination, head coach David Quinn said that “He has injected us with an awful lot of passion and enthusiasm. There’s no more of a deserving player than him to be in that conversation.”

If he wins, Panarin will be the fifth Rangers player to win the Hart after Buddy O’Connor, Chuck Rayner, Andy Bathgate, and Mark Messier.

Panarin finished fourth in scoring with a career-high 95 points and finished 20 points ahead of his next-closest teammate. The Blueshirts posted a 24-16-4 record in the 54 games Panarin registered a point and a 3-12-1 record in the other 16 games that he did not. He led the NHL in even-strength points (71) and was second in the league in assists (63) and plus/minus (plus-36).

Lemieux suspended for two games

The NHL has handed Brendan Lemieux a two-game suspension in the aftermath of the winger’s elbow to the head of Colorado Joonas Donskoi at the 17:08 of the third period the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime defeat in Colorado in the club’s final game on March 11.

While many were not surprised, the pause in the action in March had many forgetting about this incident.

Lemieux was also fined $2,000 earlier in this season for an elbow to the head of Cody Glass in Las Vegas.

Buchnevich returns to practice

Ranger fans took a sigh of relief when winger Pavel Buchnevich returned to action after sitting out Sunday’s scrimmage.

The NHL teams are not very forthcoming on injury information and speculation led to the possibility of something that may have been related to COVID-19.

However, that was not the case as the Rangers have stated that having missed one day on the ice was due to an apparently minor physical issue.

 

 

 

 

 

New York Rangers: Projecting their Expanded Roster

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New York Rangers, Brett Howden, Filip Chytil

When the New York Rangers resume their season in July, they and the other NHL teams will have the benefit of an extended roster when they face the Carolina Hurricanes in the play-in round. What we expect is that the play-in/playoff roster will likely include 28 skaters and unlimited goaltenders. The goaltending situation is already set with the three mainstays. The extra skaters will be the group that will have most curious as to how the Rangers fill this roster expansion

The projections assume that all players are healthy and that Kaapo Kakko will play, but may be held out due to the potential Covid-19 risk involved for a player with immunity issues due to Type 1 diabetes and Celiac disease.

At this point and hopefully subject to change, college players or free agents signed after the pause or signed to contracts that begin next season are not eligible.

Phillip Di Giuseppe

The 26-year-old Di Giuseppe was solid when he was recalled and filled in when injuries hit the team in February and March. His presence will even be more important as the likely fill-in for Brendan Lemieux, who should still be sitting out a suspension he received just before the pause of the season. Di Giuseppe played three seasons at the University of Michigan before signing with Carolina in 2014. He appeared in 147 games for the Hurricanes over four seasons and three games for Nashville in 2018-19 before signing with the Rangers as a free agent last summer. He has no playoff experience.

Vitali Kravtsov

This could be a good chance for reconciliation with the Rangers. Briefly, here is what happened: he failed to make the Rangers’ NHL roster out of training camp, pouted about being sent to AHL Hartford, decided to go back to Russia to play in the KHL, struggled there for about a month-and-a-half, and ultimately returned to the AHL. This pause may give a chance to sort things out and possibly show what he can do. Skating with the team during camp could at the very least, allow the 20-year-old to develop his potential.

Steven Fogarty

You have to like someone who was selected captain of his team in Harford. Fogarty has a nice size and can play both the center and the wing. His maturity at age 27 with some NHL experience would make him valuable for roster depth. Fogarty was recalled and played 8 and half minutes in the Rangers final game before the pause, that 3-2 OT loss to Colorado.

Libor Hajek

He will likely be the first defenseman in reserve for the team. Hajek had been considered a partner for Jacob Trouba after the Brady Skjei trade but was kept down in Hartford. Now he has the chance to join the camp in July and to see if he can step into that spot or will be a valuable seventh defenseman.

Lias Andersson

This could be another player on the Rangers reconciliation tour 2020. Johan Rylander of the Swedish newspaper Gotebergs-Posten spoke with Andersson and stated that the New York Rangers had contacted Andersson about returning for the playoffs, but that he was unsure about coming back. As one of the top prospects, it might be a good chance to start fresh and move forward, allowing the Rangers to benefit from his talent.

Tim Gettinger

The 22-year-old has the size to be a bottom-six type of player to work the boards on a checking line. This is the kind of depth you like to have in this kind of situation.

Yegor Rykov/Darren Raddysh

Would like to have some more defenseman in case something happens during the series.

If the NHL changes its mind on allowing college players and free agents to play……

Morgan Barron, K’Andre Miller, Patrick Khoderenko, and Justin Richards will all get consideration to be included on the roster. Nils Lundkvist? A wild-card for sure.

The same goes for Tyler Wall, a nice way to transition him into the Rangers family, especially since it looks like the Rangers could keep an unlimited amount of goalies.

If the NHL does not change its mind, look for Vinni Lettieri, Boo Nieves, and the big banger Matt Belesky to be stronger considered for roster spots.

 

 

 

 

 

New York Rangers’ Brendan Lemieux faces suspension when Qualifying Rounds begin

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New York Rangers, Brendan Lemieux

New York Rangers rugged forward Brendan Lemieux will be hit with a suspension once the NHL resumes games in late July or early August.

In what seems like years ago, Lemieux was called for a two-minute minor penalty for interference following the hit on Colorado Avalanche Joonas Donskoi on Mar. 12. The incident occurred with 2:52 remaining in the third period of the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime loss at Pepsi Center in the last game the team played before the Covid-19 pandemic shut everything down.

Donskoi did not return to the game.

The NHL Department Of Player Saftey had a hearing the following day and announced that Lemieux will be suspended but they would announce the number of games he will serve once the NHL had resumption of play guideline in place. The NHL anounced their Return to Play plan on Tuesday night, but at this time it remains unclear when the league will inform the team with the length of the suspension.

This was Lemieux’s second encounter with DOPS. He was fined $2,000 for elbowing Vegas Golden Knights forward Cody Glass on Dec. 9.

The Rangers will face the Carolina Hurricanes in a best-of-five Qualifying Round once the league decides to resume hockey activities. Lemieux’s aggressive style, along with his strong skating and willingness to stand up for his teammates will certainly be missed in the early games of the short series.

Lemieux appeared in 59 games this season netting six goals and 18 points.  He leads the team in penalty minutes raking up 111.

Many Protocols Must Be in Place for the New York Rangers in Phase 2 of Return-to-Play

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Brady Skjei, New York Rangers

The NHL’s return-to-sport protocol is a very detailed procedure that will be required of the New York Rangers just to get six players working out inside the rink together, never mind what’s still to come when the Blueshirts progress to training camps or actually start playing games again. The protocol distributed to the Rangers, other teams, and players early Monday leaves no detail uncovered and paints a scene unlike any that would typically play out in these facilities.

So let’s say you are Jericho NY native Adam Fox and you want to start training in the facility. The first thing that must happen before he even steps foot into the facility is to have a swab inserted roughly two inches into his nasal cavity. That test then is sent to a place that can do laboratory-based RT-PCR testing, which will be used to detect any active or recent infection with COVID-19 and will be administered 48 hours prior to even thinking about entering the facility.

That will get Fox into the door of the facility. So, Adam Fox would like to start skating. In order to do that, he must complete a pre-participation medical exam, which includes an EKG test and screening for pre-existing conditions.

Now, it’s time to hit the ice. At best, Fox may be able to skate with New Jersey native Tony DeAngelo, and their fellow defensemen as phase 2 only allow six players on the ice at a time. Without contact. That means that Brendan Lemieux will have to do some “practice fighting” somewhere else. Coaches, including those for skating and skills, will not be allowed.

What happens when they get hungry or thirsty? Players inside the facility can consume Single-use beverages or snacks such as power bars, but any meals prepared and packaged by the catering staff must be taken home before they are consumed.

Whatever group of Rangers practices together, the grouping must remain constant and essentially be assigned a rotating shift for when they are allowed in the facility. Where possible, the Rangers have been told to assign a different athletic trainer, strength and conditioning coach and equipment manager to each group.

So after their practice, Fox, DeAngelo, and the rest of the Rangers would like some post-practice treatment. Not happening. In Phase 2, the players will not be granted access to saunas, hot tubs, or steam rooms and are encouraged to shower at home whenever possible.

So, after all of the players have gone through the facility, the Rangers cleaning staff must get to work. The facility must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected between each training session. That includes locker-room areas and circuit-based training equipment. Players are required to leave all workout gear inside the facility for cleaning. The cleaning staff could end up being the MVPs of the season.

While all of this is happening, head coach David Quinn will be getting texts that will read something like 98.6. 97.8, or 98.2. While it might be nice to say they are sending him slapshot speeds, they instead will be the recorded temperature checks. During this process, players will have to do at least two more tests each week, plus daily temperature and symptom checks, one done at home, and another from medical personnel upon arrival at the facility.

There could be serious consequences for the Rangers if they do not comply with the measures put in place by the league. The NHL has promised that there could be penalties that include fines, loss of draft choices, and ineligibility to participate in the resumption of play.

This certainly will be a different experience for the Rangers, who mostly haven’t been back inside team facilities since the season was paused on March 12.

New York Rangers F Brendan Lemieux, others could be non-existent if rumors become reality

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New York Rangers, Brendan Lemieux

The New York Rangers are in danger of losing several players amid recent rumors:

The NHL is still trying to figure out if there will be a reactivation to their season.  The questions of where games could be played or if the regular season will be completed were the main topic of conversation until a so-called change in play was mentioned Monday night.

Possible restructuring of how the game of hockey could look may have a significant effect on the New York Ranger’s hard-nosed and intimidating style of play. One that could have a player like Brendan Lemieux sitting on the bench instead of agitating the opposition.

The tweet in question was posted by Ryan Rishaug, a TSN reporter for the Edmonton bureau.

Rishaugh brainstormed with an infectious disease specialist who tries to give a vision to the fans of what the NHL may look like should the league be able to resume the 2019-’20 season. It is not the game we had before the shutdown in march.

The Breakdown

At first glance, things look pretty good. Players might be told that full-face shields would be worn to help prevent the spread of droplets. The hockey version of a face covering.

The next step mentioned, no fighting. No scrums after whistles to prevent linesmen from having to break them up.

Now wouldn’t that be great hockey?  Artemi Panarin flies down the ice dishes the puck to Ryan Strome and BAM, Panarin is flying across the ice surface after a late hit. But it’s ok, Lemieux or maybe Chris Kreider can’t do anything about it. No getting into his face talking garbage, no standing up and defending one of the best players on the ice. Just move along, guys.

Ridiculous to even comprehend.

The coaches would have to social distance on the bench wearing masks. No word on the trainers, I guess they can social distance in the hallways. If a player needs equipment repair or medical attention, they can have a coach move out of their path and help the player out.

Here is a fun one to try, the wingers would need to maintain a two-foot distance on face-offs instead of the traditional way of standing in front of one another with their sticks crossed.  Here is another reason not to dress Lemieux or a tough player like Julien Gauthier.

This is called the “let’s all get along” face-off draw.

Lastly is suggested no spitting on the ice or the bench.

To be fair, NHL’s Bill Daly did comment on these potential changes to play.

“We consider anything our infectious disease experts and advisors might recommend, but I’m not sure given the circumstances of our game that any dramatic modifications would rally be necessary.”

Why bother playing?

If all of these possible scenarios are even in the realm of possibility to get hockey back this season, the NHL and NHLPA should walk away and cancel the season. The idea that so much would have to change on the ice just to get the season restarted just to play will tun this great game into a mockery.

This is hockey. No fighting, well, that can work even though the traditionalist fans would rebel against it. No scrums after whistles will never work, especially during a playoff hockey game.

Fighting is always reduced during the playoffs, but pushing and instigating after whistles happens all the time.  It is as much of playoff hockey as is lacing up the skates to play the game.

There has to be a breaking point, a time when the league may just have to throw in the towel on say “no mas”!

The fans are already out of the equation for the foreseeable future. Now it’s truly up to the NHLPA, and it’s players to protect the game for its fans.

It is hard enough to comprehend how the NHL could start up with so many questions off the ice to consider, but if some of these topics are deal-breakers, the league might be better off moving on to next season now.

For the intimidators and hard-hitting players like Lemieux. Kreider or a Ryan Lindgren changing the rules of the game now would change the style of the game these guys play every night.

New York Rangers Rediscover Their Power Play, Topple Carolina

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New York Rangers

The New York Rangers knew they were heading into a critical stretch of their schedule. Coming off the NHL three-day holiday break, they tinkered with some lines and used some inspired play to down the Carolina Hurricanes 5-3. The Rangers top players came up big as Henrik Lundqvist stopped 39 shots, and Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejed each tallied three points.

Power Play Drought Ends for the New York Rangers

One of the most significant factors of the night was that the Rangers ended their 0-18 streak on the power play, tallying two power-play goals out of five chances. In fact, the entire specials units for the Blueshirts were outstanding as they also killed all five of Carolina’s power-play chances.  Zibanejad scored the two power-play goals and added his third point on an assist for Chris Kreider’s goal.  Panarin had a goal and two assists, giving him 14 points in his past nine games. In fact, the highlight of the night was not a goal, but rather Panarin’s spectacular pass to Ryan Stromme that set up the Ranger’s fifth and final goal.

The critical decision of the game came from the coaching staff, especially the video crew, when Carolina had a would-be first-period game-tying power-play goal by Sebastian Aho overturned after the Rangers challenged for offside. Both teams cited this as a massive momentum shift.   The only negative that came from the game was that forward Brendan Lemieux sustained a fractured hand and would be out indefinitely. In his post-game comments, Head Coach David Quinn didn’t have details on a timeframe for Lemieux’s injury or if the Rangers would recall a forward from Hartford.

Canada Swing Starts in Toronto

The Blueshirts will be back in action tonight when they face Original Six foe the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs also played on Friday, defeating the New Jersey Devils 5-4 in overtime. Toronto suffered a critical injury of their own Friday night when forward Ilya Mikheyev sustained a significant laceration to his wrist in the third period. He was transported to a Newark, NJ hospital for evaluation, and remained there overnight. Late reports stated that Mikheyev is stable and has full feeling in his hand and fingers. Face-off is at 7 pm, and the “Hockey Night in Canada” feature game will be shown on MSG+ and the NHL network.