Patrick Kane deal, possible K'Andre Miller ban could create shorthanded situation
Linesman Kilian McNamara escorts the Rangers' K'Andre Miller off the ice after Miller received a penalty during the first period against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
Monday felt like the eye of Hurricane Patrick.
The Rangers were off after playing back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, and three games in the last four days. So there were no in-game roster moves, no players stapled to the bench for entire games, no more hoops for the Blueshirts to jump through to try to complete their anticipated trade for Chicago forward Patrick Kane.
After a tumultuous few days, everything is in place now. Trading Vitali Kravtsov and waiving forward Jake Leschyshyn on Saturday and assigning defenseman Braden Schneider (on paper) to AHL Hartford after Sunday’s game opened $2.684 million in space under the Rangers’ salary-cap figure, according to PuckPedia. That is enough to accommodate 25% of Kane’s $10.5 million cap hit ($2.625 million).
So, on Wednesday, two days before Friday’s trade deadline, the Rangers will recall Schneider from Hartford, be able to return forward Ryan Carpenter to Hartford and make a deal with Chicago and a third team that will bring Kane to New York City. Kane likely will join the Rangers that night when they visit the Flyers.
But the turmoil and the craziness isn’t over yet.
On Monday, the Rangers awaited word from the NHL about whether K’Andre Miller will be suspended after he was given a match penalty for spitting at the Kings’ Drew Doughty in Sunday’s game. With Schneider dressed but not being used, the Rangers finished the game with four active defensemen.
Miller met Doughty after the game and apologized. He also apologized publicly on his Twitter page on Monday, saying, “I wanted to take a moment to address what occurred in last night’s game. I have all the respect in the world for Drew Doughty and what happened was completely accidental. I would never intend to do something like that on purpose, it goes against everything I am as a person and a player. I felt awful about it and I am thankful Drew gave me the opportunity to apologize and explain myself in person after the game.’’
In 2019, Washington’s Garnet Hathaway was suspended three games for spitting on Anaheim’s Erik Gudbranson, so it seems likely that Miller will receive a similar suspension.
If so, and if Ryan Lindgren still is unable to play because of the upper-body injury that kept him out of Sunday’s game, the Rangers will have only five healthy and available defensemen. Because they would be up against the cap after trading for Kane, they would not be able to immediately call up a replacement from the minor leagues.
If Miller is suspended and Lindgren’s injury keeps him out a while longer, the Rangers will play one game shorthanded. After that, they would be able to call up an emergency replacement, one whose NHL salary is $850,000 or less, according to PuckPedia. So Zac Jones — if he isn’t part of the package sent to Chicago for Kane — wouldn’t be eligible for recall because his NHL cap hit is $925,000. It probably would be Libor Hajek ($800,000) or Matthew Robertson ($797,500).
Kravtsov OK with trade
Kravtsov, traded to Vancouver for AHL forward Will Lockwood and a seventh-round pick in 2026, met with Vancouver media on a Zoom call Monday.
“I’m very thankful to the New York Rangers organization and I can’t say anything bad,’’ he said. “Everything what’s happened there stays there, but I don’t have any issue right now.’’
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.
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