New captain: Alain Vigneault is leaning but not saying
Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault smiles during a light moment of a news conference at the MSG training facility in Greenburgh, N.Y., on Monday, June 16, 2014. Credit: Craig Ruttle
The Rangers will name their 27th captain in franchise history, but probably not until training camp in mid-September.
Speculation has centered around defenseman Ryan McDonagh as the successor to Ryan Callahan, who was traded to Tampa Bay on March 5, but coach Alain Vigneault wouldn't tip his hand Monday.
"I've got an idea where I'm leaning," he said. "I'm going to let training camp unfold, or maybe I'll make a decision prior to it. I'm going to talk to management and give them my thoughts. I'll seek feedback from a couple players and will get input from everybody that's been around our team. I'm pretty sure we'll be close to a consensus."
Heavy weights
For speedy left wing Carl Hagelin, training will be different this summer. Last summer, he was rehabbing from shoulder surgery and missed the first 10 games of the season. "I'm looking forward to getting two solid months of heavy lifting," he said. "I just feel like the muscles are coming back to where I want them to be. I was just rehabbing with smaller weights and went right back in and it's hard getting any mass during the year. That's my goal, to get stronger and faster."
Blue chips
Goaltender Cam Talbot, who missed all five games of the Final, might have been able to back up Henrik Lundqvist had there been a Game 6. A shot during warm-ups before Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals broke a bone in his right hand. "I got out of the net, reached back to bat a puck out of the air, went back toward the middle of the net and it caught me right on the hand," he said. "I didn't need surgery but wasn't strong enough to hold a stick. I was probably going to get back on the ice Sunday." . . . A team spokesman said there is no official list of candidates to replace assistant coach Ulf Samuelsson if he gets the Carolina head-coaching job . . . Brian Boyle, Derek Dorsett and Derek Stepan all have wedding plans this summer.
