In this latest edition of New York Rangers News & Rumors, the Rangers will be without one of their centers for the remainder of the 2023-24 season. In other news, the Rangers picked up a 7-2 win over the Ottawa Senators in their final game before the All-Star break, Nick Bonino was placed on waivers and assigned to the Rangers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack and more.
Rangers Defeat Senators 7-2, Take Win Into All-Star Break
In the final game before the All-Star break, the Rangers took on the Senators in hopes of bringing home a win and building some momentum. They did exactly that earning their 30th win of the season after defeating the Senators 7-2.
In the matchup, the Senators went up 2-0 early in the second period with goals from Brady Tkachuk and Jakob Chychrun, but it was all Blueshirts from there. In under six minutes, the Rangers got goals from Alexis Lafreniere, Chris Kreider, Zac Jones and Jonny Brodzinski. Blake Wheeler would add another goal as the Rangers took a 5-2 lead into the third period.
Related: Rangers Reportedly Could Have Interest in Sean Monahan
Panarin netted his 30th goal of the season and Kaapo Kakko also scored giving the Rangers a 7-2 win. Goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 29 of 31 shots, Panarin had a goal and two assists for three points, Mika Zibanejad had two assists, and only six Rangers players finished without a point, but nobody finished the night with a minus in the plus/minus category.
Nick Bonino Placed On Waivers
After a slow start to his 2023-24 campiagn, the Rangers chose to place Bonino on waivers. He scored one goal adding four assists for five points through 45 games and wasn’t playing very well defensively. He was placed in the bottom six forward group early on in the season and never found a way to earn a shot in the top six. It’s expected he will play a leadership role with the Wolf Pack for the remainder of the season.
With the Rangers’ injury issues this season and the lack of trades they’ve pulled off, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Bonino called back up and given an opportunity again. For now, though, he will have to work his way back up from the AHL.
Filip Chytil Out For Season
Some bad news hit the Rangers recently as it was announced that Chytil suffered a setback in his recovery from injury after an incident at practice, and because of that, he will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season. Chytil, who is 24 years old, hasn’t played since November and had six assists in 10 games before being injured. Chytil, Jones and Jake Leschyshyn were the only Rangers players on the ice at the time of the incident when they were skating during an optional skate before a game.
This was his first time on the ice since Nov. 2, and it will be his last until next season. Hopefully, Chytil can recover quickly and make a return to the Rangers in the 2024-25 season.
Sean Monahan Seen As Trade Target
On the Saturday Headlines segment on Sportsnet on Saturday (Jan. 27) night, Elliotte Friedman mentioned Montreal Canadiens’ forward Sean Monahan as someone the Rangers could be interested in trading for. He quickly pointed out that this would be a tough deal to pull off due to the asking price, as well as some potential bad blood between the two organizations. He also said that several teams will keep an eye on Monahan’s production heading toward the 2024 Trade Deadline.
With Chytil suffering an unfortunate setback in his recovery, Monahan being a trade piece makes perfect sense. While the asking price might be high because his production has been good and he has a good contract, the Rangers will be trying to bolster their bottom six now that they know they’ll be without Chytil for the rest of the season.
The Rangers will be off until Monday, Feb. 5 when they take on the Colorado Avalanche in their first game after a long break. They will be looking to build off of their strong play heading into All-Star Weekend and moving past their struggles in January.