With the trade deadline approaching, talk is picking up regarding who the Rangers should keep, and which players they should trade.
If you ask me, the DJ known as “Z-Bad” should be borderline-untouchable. Zibanejad is just 25, he’s got a bargain deal (just a $5.35 million cap hit through 2021-22), and he’s highly skilled.
Thursday presented a strong argument in that regard, as Zibanejad generated a hat trick plus one assist. He was involved in all four of the Rangers’ goals, and even scored the game-winner.
This four-point outburst leaves Zibanejad close to a point-per-game this season, as he now has 48 in 50 contests. Zibanejad’s been lethal lately, with 11 of those 48 points coming during the past five games. His career-high of 51 points could just be one hot night away, and he’s not far off from his career-best 27 goals, as he hit the 20-goal mark on Thursday.
The Rangers would be wise to hold on to Zibanejad, but the other red-hot Z on their roster might be best moved (and perhaps they could just bring him back during the summer?).
Zuccarello is really heating up in his own right. He collected three assists on Thursday, and all three were primary helpers.
Much like Zibanejad, Zuccarello has generated 11 points in the last five games, giving him 27 in an injury-limited 36 contests. Health is a legitimate question with the nifty Norwegian, but those health-inhibited totals could make him a value option if teams get scared off by the rental fees for, say, Artemi Panarin.
Marcus Johansson was one of the players who generated two points (1G, 1A) on Thursday, and his goal really filled the effort quota:
(I’d say that you could score a goal like that in “NHL 19” by diving and hitting the poke check button, but EA Sports punishes heavy poke-checking these days. Try it if you still play one of the older editions, though.)
Zibanejad has generated four GWGs in his last five games, becoming the second Rangers player to do that. Rod Gilbert was the first back in 1966. Road hat tricks are also rare for NYR:
Mika Zibanejad is the first Ranger who has recorded a regular season hat trick on the road at New Jersey since Kelly Kisio on Dec. 26, 1986. Including playoffs, he is the first Ranger to record a hat trick on the road at the Devils since Mark Messier in the 1994 ECF. #NYR
Panarin extended his streak of 20+ goals to four seasons, becoming the seventh undrafted player to hit 20+ at least four years in a row to begin a career.
NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Tuesday’s matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers. Coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
Prior to the All-Star Break, the Rangers were playing some of their best hockey of the season, winning four of five games, including victories over the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins. New York last played on Jan. 19, beating Boston 3-2 at TD Garden. They enter this game on a three-game winning streak and look to make it four straight wins, which would tie their longest winning streak of the season.
Head coach David Quinn stressed the importance of starting this game fast and “making sure we have a good effort” because the Flyers will have a game under their belt having played on Monday night. This game starts a furious stretch of games for the Rangers, who will play exactly every other night through Feb. 12 – 8 games over a 15-day stretch.
Last night, the Flyers beat the Jets 3-1 for their season-high fourth straight win. Rookie netminder Carter Hart made 31 saves; he’s started every game during the team’s current win streak. Of the team’s record-tying seven goalies used this season, Hart leads in goals against average (2.52) and save percentage (.922).
James van Riemsdyk scored a goal – his seventh in the past six games. Up until this current run, van Riemsdyk had struggled, with just six goals over his first 27 games of the year.
Shayne Gostisbehere (lower body) left warmups early last night and was a late scratch. He will miss tonight’s game, but the team is hopeful he’ll be able to play Thursday against Boston.
What: Philadelphia Flyers at New York Rangers Where: Madison Square Garden When: Tuesday, Jan. 29, 6:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN Live stream: You can watch the Flyers-Rangers stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
Gord Miller (play-by-play) and McGuire will call the action from New York. Pre-game coverage starts at 6:30 p.m. ET with NHL Live, hosted by Kathryn Tappen with Jeremy Roenick and Anson Carter.
NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Monday’s matchup between the Winnipeg Jets and Philadelphia Flyers. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
While the Tampa Bay Lightning lead the NHL with 76 points, the Western Conference has a tighter race at the top, especially in the Central Division, where Winnipeg currently owns the top spot and has four games in hand on the second-place Nashville Predators.
The Jets are currently on pace for 109 points and 52 wins. Last season, the team set franchise records in both wins (52) and points (114), but they still didn’t win the division (Nashville did w/ NHL-best 117 pts).
All-Stars Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele are top two on the team in points at 61 and 59, respectively. Kyle Connor is next with 38. Wheeler, tied for ninth in the NHL in points, is second in the league in assists (52) and although his streak of 20-goal seasons may end at five given he has only nine goals, he’s on pace for 104 points, which would be a career high and break Marian Hossa’s franchise record of 100.
In addition to the All-Star break, both teams are coming off their bye weeks, each having last played on Saturday, Jan. 19.
One of the bottom-dwellers of the Eastern Conference, the Flyers sit 14 points back of a playoff spot and are on track to continue their trend of missing the postseason the year after making it. From 1995-2012, the Flyers made the playoffs 16 times in a 17-season span. Since then, Philly has made just three postseasons in the last six years and each in alternating years.
Wayne Simmonds, a popular name in trade talks ahead of the Feb. 25 deadline, has played in all 48 games this season and put up 15 goals but just 23 points. He’s on track for his sixth straight season with 24-plus goals but only 39 points, which would be his fewest in a full season since 2011.
The Flyers are 7-8-2 since interim coach Scott Gordon took over for Dave Hakstol. The coaching change was one of several moves in what has been a tumultuous season for the team that has also included letting go of GM Ron Hextall and replacing him with Chuck Fletcher.
What: Winnipeg Jets at Philadelphia Flyers Where: Wells Fargo Center When: Monday, Jan. 28, 6 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN Live stream: You can watch the Jets-Flyers stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
Kenny Albert and Brian Boucher will have the call from Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pa. Pre-game coverage starts at 6 p.m. ET with NHL Live, hosted by Paul Burmeister alongside Jeremy Roenick and Anson Carter.
NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Tuesday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
The defending Stanley Cup champions are off to another great start to their season – with 54 points through the first half of the regular season, the Capitals sit first in the Metropolitan Division. The Flyers, meanwhile, are the bottom-dwellers of the division and the in-season coaching change has not helped as Philadelphia has dropped seven straight after losing to St. Louis last night, 3-0. Blues’ goalie Jordan Binnington pitched a shutout in his first NHL start as the Flyers were booed off the ice after the game.
Washington is coming off a 3-2 win at Detroit on Sunday in which Michal Kempny scored the game-winning goal with 3:52 remaining in regulation. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak, which was the Capitals’ longest winless stretch of the season. Dating back to Dec. 6, Washington has won 10 of its last 14 games (10-3-1). The Caps will now return to D.C. after a three-game road trip and boast a 12-6-2 home record this season.
Since firing head coach Dave Hakstol last month, Philadelphia is 3-6-2 under interim coach Scott Gordon. The Flyers won their first two games under Gordon but are now in the midst of their worst slump this season, having not won a game since before Christmas (last win: Dec. 23 at New York Rangers). Scoring has especially been a struggle of late, with Philadelphia putting up no more than two goals in five of their last six games (seven goals total in span).
The Flyers have used an NHL-high sx goalies this season, and that does not include recently claimed Mike McKenna. Philly claimed the 35-year-old off waivers from Vancouver last week as he backed up 20-year-old Carter Hart last night, who stopped 34 of 36 shots against the Blues. McKenna could lucky No. 7 on Tuesday night.
What: Philadelphia Flyers at Washington Capitals Where: Capital One Center When: Tuesday, Jan. 8, 6:30 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN Live stream: You can watch the Flyers-Capitals stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
Chris Cuthbert (play-by-play) and Brian Boucher (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will call Flyers-Capitals from Capital One Arena. Paul Burmeister, Keith Jones and Anson Carter will handle studio coverage.
NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Tuesday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals with coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
SEAN: This season is long gone, so Chuck Fletcher will need to make some big decisions between now and the Feb. 25 trade deadline. By the end of February he’ll have been Flyers GM for nearly three months, more than enough time to get a feel for the organization and have an idea the best way forward to turn around their fortunes.
Flyers brass wanted someone with a “bias for action” to replace the patient Ron Hextall. You can be sure the team will be aggressive in trying to become a playoff team in 2020, but at what cost?
Wayne Simmonds will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, so he’ll have some suitors. He’s 30 and his offensive output has diminished this season. He’s an easy one to cut bait on and bring back a return full of futures. After that, do you rip up the core that’s been together for years like Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier and Jake Voracek? At their ages, they still have good years left, you’d hope. And with the development of Travis Konecny and Nolan Patrick up front and Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere on the backend, plus the future in Morgan Frost, Philippe Myers, Joel Farabee, there’s no reason to blow it up. Factor in Carter Hart getting an extended run due to the numerous injuries that have hit the position and you can still see some bright spots ahead.
A number of Flyers are having down years, which will happen given their current state of mess. But players like Giroux, Voracek and Gostisbehere still have lots of term left on their contract, making them difficult to deal away.
The Flyers have never been shy about spending money to improve, so it’s realistic that with a smart off-season (No 13-year contracts, Chuck!) that may include hiring a replacement for interim head coach Scott Gordon they can be back in the playoff mix in 2019-20.
JAMES: During almost a decade with the Wild, Fletcher took some massive swings for the fence. He was able to make contact here and there, but that franchise will need to deal with his whiffs for ages.
With that in mind, there might be some hesitation in Philly, but let’s be honest: Hextall’s firing came, in large part, because management was already getting patient with the slow-burn approach. The “microwave” solution will have to do, which means smaller (but still unpleasant) moves like trading away Simmonds, rather than really hitting the reset button in parting ways with Giroux or Voracek.
Besides, it would take multiple drafts to compile many of the assets Philly already has. Beyond Giroux and Voracek, the Flyers have to fantastic young defensemen in Provorov and Gostisbehere. Couturier is the sort of two-way beast teams crave for playoff battles. Konecny and Patrick are both the types of forwards who could theoretically make leaps forward under the right coach.
Of course, there’s a lot of arduous work to be done, including answering the age-old question of finding a competent goalie. This dismal 2018-19 season might obscure this notion, but people (myself included) were intrigued by what this group could accomplish if they took the next step. Maybe Fletcher can push steer them in that positive direction? Taking that risk makes a lot more sense than starting from square one all over again.
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JOEY: I really don’t think the Flyers have to blow this thing up right now. I realize that Giroux, Simmonds and Voracek are older players, but this team has a lot of youth on the roster and in the pipeline. There’s no need to sell off veterans or make sweeping changes. This team has what it takes to get back on track in the near future. If it doesn’t happen this year, it should happen fairly soon.
Patrick, Konecny, Gostisbehere, Provorov, Travis Sanheim and Couturier are all 26 or younger. Most teams in the NHL would kill to have a young core made up of players that are that talented. Add guys like Hart, Frost, Myers and Isaac Ratcliffe, and you’ve got another group of youngsters that are close to making it to the NHL.
I feel like the Flyers were a victim of the success they had last year. No one really expected them to make the playoffs in 2018, but they did. So now that they’re struggling this season, it’s a much bigger deal. Look, I realize that they should be better than they’ve been, but some key players have had down years.
The organization has fired a GM and a head coach this year, so they just have to give Fletcher the opportunity to make a few small tweaks to see if they can salvage this situation. Don’t blow it up.
SCOTT: The time is now, isn’t it?
New coach, new GM — a fresh start in upper management and a fresh set of eyes at some big problems. Sure, Fletcher has made some interesting moves, but he also made a playoff contender, too.
They’ve lost seven straight and are in the basement of the Metropolitan Division and are a couple flights of stairs away from the bottom of the entire league. You’re already setting yourself up for a good draft pick, and there are some juicy prospects lining up for this coming draft in late June.
You have guys like Simmonds who will command a nice return at the trade deadline from a team looking to break the bank as they take a run at the Stanley Cup. Cash in now. Perhaps it’s time to shop Giroux, too. Look, nobody wants to fire it all into the Sun, but at what point do you have no other choice. Have they not been trying to re-tool on the go already?
There are some good players to build around still, but it’s not going to take some re-tooling on the fly to get it done this time. Look where that sort of thing got St. Louis — last place in the Central Division.
And they simply can’t let Hart go to waste and add another tombstone in that goalie graveyard.
Do it right.
ADAM: When Fletcher took over my opinion was that he shouldn’t do anything drastic or potentially detrimental to the long-term outlook of the team to try and salvage this lost season. He needed to take the rest of the year, let it play out, see what the team needs, find a permanent coach (whether it is Joel Quenneville or somebody else), and go from there. I still think that has to be the case when it comes to the bigger moves. But for as awful and dysfunctional as this season has been, I am still not sure if this is a “blow-it-up” type of situation.
I came into this season thinking the Flyers were a boom or bust team that could either make the playoffs and do fairly well, or totally fall flat on their face.
The X-factor for which path they would follow was the goaltending.
And, well, obviously the goaltending has sent them on the wrong path.
I don’t think this is a terrible team. They have a good mix of veteran stars (Giroux is still great. Voracek is good. Couturier is outstanding) some really good young players that can be part of something, and who knows, maybe even a shot at a top lottery pick. With better goaltending this season is probably going in a very different direction and we’re having a different conversation right now. Remember, this was a playoff team a year ago and I don’t think the forwards and defenders are playing that much worse this year. It’s the goaltending that has crushed them. Again. Fix that and maybe you have something decent here.
Chris Cuthbert (play-by-play) and Brian Boucher (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will call Flyers-Capitals from Capital One Arena. Paul Burmeister, Keith Jones and Anson Carter will handle studio coverage.
