Rangers' Ben Harpur has become a mainstay on defense
Rangers defenseman Ben Harpur looks on before a face off against the Capitals in the first period of an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 27, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Defenseman Ben Harpur played his 13th straight game Thursday when the Rangers faced the Dallas Stars at the Garden. And recently he got the go-ahead to find an apartment and move out of the hotel he has lived in since he was called up Dec. 3.
“Yeah, they just told me to get a place, so I’m in the process’’ of finding an apartment, he said Wednesday.
Of course, while it’s good for Harpur to know he will stick around for the foreseeable future, there is the not-so-small complication of getting rid of his apartment in Hartford, the one he lived in for barely two weeks before he got called up. “I’ve got to cancel the lease,’’ he said. “But there’s a penalty, and then you got to pay another two months’ [rent]. They always get you somehow.’’
Still, Harpur is in New York, which is good news.
“Yeah, I’m happy to be here, and hopefully I can get settled and get a place and get out of the hotel,’’ he said. “I’ve pretty much lived in a hotel since September, since I went to camp in Columbus. It’s tough living that way.’’
Leschyshyn on tap
Jake Leschyshyn, claimed off waivers Wednesday from Vegas, was not in the lineup against the Stars. Gerard Gallant, who remembers seeing the 23-year-old forward in training camp with the Golden Knights in 2017 and 2018, said the plan is to put him in the lineup soon.
Leschyshyn was a second-round draft pick by Vegas in 2017. He will be a bottom-six forward who can kill penalties and play center or wing, Gallant said. He is under contract, at a salary-cap hit of $766,667, for this year and the next two.
Blue notes
Sammy Blais re-entered the lineup after being scratched Tuesday. Gallant said Chris Kreider (upper-body injury) is day-to-day . . . Libor Hajek was a healthy scratch.
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.
