Colin Stephenson: The underestimated Tye Kartye could represent the epitome of the Rangers' season
Rangers' Tye Kartye skates during the first period against the St. Louis Blues at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
When the Rangers plucked Tye Kartye off the scrap heap in February, claiming him off waivers from the Kraken, the move to pick up a bottom-six winger and penalty-killer — by a team going nowhere — didn’t excite too many fans.
But with the undrafted Kartye having grabbed hold of a spot in the top-six forward group and earning more and more trust from coach Mike Sullivan every day, taking a flyer on the 25-year-old is looking like one of the best moves general manager Chris Drury has made in his five-plus years at the helm of the Blueshirts.
Kartye scored what proved to be the winning goal on a breakaway with 4:39 remaining as the Rangers beat the Flyers, 3-2, on Thursday night to wrap up a four-game homestand before starting their swing through the Pacific Northwest on Saturday in Seattle.
The goal was Kartye’s fifth of the season and his 10th in the 41 games since he joined the Rangers. His 12 points in 17 games this season make him the team’s fifth-leading scorer, and his current pace would leave him with 25 goals and 59 points in 84 games.
But Kartye — who started the season on the fourth line — is a player who is more than just about the numbers. He’s a dogged forechecker, a hustler and part of a penalty kill that, through Thursday’s games, was the No. 1 man-down unit in the league, killing 90.6% of opposition power plays.
His line, with captain J.T. Miller and a revolving cast at right wing, has dominated possession, created scoring chances and generated shots on goal better than any other Rangers line.
“Ty and J.T. in particular, those two guys, they’ve really complemented each other really well,” Sullivan said. “They’ve got some chemistry, and I know they like playing with each other. And Ty brings a speed element and just gets in on the forecheck and creates turnovers, loose pucks, stalled pucks that allow the line to get in on top of the puck. And then they play from there.”
In training camp, Kartye told Newsday that he plays with a chip on his shoulder as a result of not being drafted out of junior hockey. The speed he possesses and the energy with which he plays clearly have made him a favorite of Sullivan’s.
Kartye played 13 minutes and 20 seconds in the season opener but has played more than that in every game since, and he was on the ice for more than 20 minutes in each of the last two games (20:01 against St. Louis, 20:06 against Philadelphia).
“I can’t say enough,’’ Miller said. “He’s making contributions in a ton of different ways. I feel like he made his way by being a good forechecker, and now he’s a [heck of a] hockey player. He’s getting rewarded and I’m happy for him.”
Said Sullivan, “He competes hard. He works at his game every day. He’s a relentless worker . . . Ever since we’ve picked him up and he joined our team, he’s just fit in with our group. I think he’s getting better and better.”
This week Sullivan put Kartye on the second power-play unit, which is a big deal (to everyone except Kartye himself).
“I think it’s just another — it’s a good opportunity for me,’’ he told Newsday.
Kartye’s underdog persona is something that mirrors where the Rangers are this season.
After missing the playoffs each of the previous two seasons and finishing last in the Eastern Conference last season, the Rangers — even after a summer retool in which they beefed up their roster with the additions of sniper Pavel Dorofeyev, defensemen Sean Durzi and Marcus Pettersson, and forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen — were never going to be a favorite to make the playoffs next spring. And things got even bleaker when they lost star goalie Igor Shesterkin.
If they are going to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot, they’ll need to not only overcome the loss of Shesterkin but prove a lot of people wrong about their talent level and desire. And that’s what Kartye has done his entire career.
Reimer sent to Hartford. The Rangers assigned goalie James Reimer to AHL Hartford, meaning Joonas Korpisalo will be activated off injured reserve in time for Saturday’s game in Seattle. Korpisalo, who stopped 34 of 37 shots in a tuneup game for Hartford on Wednesday, could start Saturday. Dylan Garand has started 10 of the past 11 games and came on in relief in the one game he didn’t start in that stretch.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
