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Kevin Shattenkirk is Fighting for His Rangers Life


Phil

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If you?re wondering whether these final 15 games have meaning for the Rangers, check on Kevin Shattenkirk, the defenseman who is essentially fighting to save his career in New York.

 

Too dramatic a scenario? Not really, for if the 30-year-old defenseman does not markedly improve his play this final month, management will have no other choice than to seriously consider a buyout of No. 22?s contract halfway through its four-year term.

 

Nobody wants that.

 

Shattenkirk was reinstated for Saturday night?s Garden match against the bottom-dwelling, injury-decimated Devils after sitting out Thursday?s 3-2 shootout defeat in Detroit as a healthy scratch. It marked the second time this season, and first since Oct. 11, the fourth game of the year, that the New Rochelle native watched in street clothes.

 

?He and I had had conversations leading up to it so he wasn?t surprised,? coach David Quinn said before the match. ?[He took it] very well. Very well.

 

Shattenkirk has become too methodical in a league that has become addicted to speed. That applies to his work on the power play point and at full strength. He recognizes that.

 

?There are definitely areas I can improve upon, especially on the power play,? Shattenkirk, whose season has featured too few peaks and too many valleys, told The Post. ?I need to make faster decisions. And for me, the power play acts as a catalyst for my whole game, when I feel good there, it?s a huge boost for me.?

 

This is an intelligent man who has crafted a notable nine-year career. But Shattenkirk?s game seems to have been badly damaged by the knee injury he suffered during his 2017 training camp. So understanding what needs to be done is one thing. Being able to do it another. That?s the challenge.

 

https://nypost.com/2019/03/09/kevin-shattenkirk-is-fighting-for-his-rangers-life/

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You can't just buy everyone out. Already stuck with Girardi's. I dont't see the Rangers considering this.

 

For sure they're going to consider this. Not sure if they do it but they'll definitely consider it. I'm sure they'll look to trade him and retain half first though.

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For sure they're going to consider this. Not sure if they do it but they'll definitely consider it. I'm sure they'll look to trade him and retain half first though.

 

Why? They get cap relief next season, but then have a 6m dead caphit the folliwing season, followed by more years of a small dead caphit.

 

They aren't going much of anywhere rhe next year or two. You wait for the contract to expire. It's poor management to extend the misery.

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Very unlikely buy out, but more healthy scratches can be in his future. Shattenkirk only has a ten team no trade list

https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/rangers

 

so he could get moved to the right team, and Rangers help with salary. You'd have to think about who you'd want to replace him in our lineup, given how bad our back end has been. Looking at our defensemen, I'm not sure Marc Staal and Brendan Smith are the only grizzled vets you want in the lineup. If Shattenkirk moved, I'd be interested in a cheap journeyman vet from Western Canada to join the Rangers.

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Would be a stupid buy out especially considering that there are better buyout candidates like Smith who is expensive and adds nothing to the team.

 

While ive never been a shatty fan they?re better off trying to help get his game to a point where they can use or trade him even if it?s for peanuts.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

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You have to factor the expansion draft in here as well. Staal will probably have to be bought out at the end of next season because he otherwise would have to be protected due to his NMC. There might even be others who fall into that category next year depending on what the roster looks like then. Smith is going to have to be bought out or half his salary retained in an (unlikely) trade. Then you have the dead space of Girardi, Spooner, and Belesky already. You can't keep adding dead space. BTW, I think Gorton must have set some sort of record for shortest time retaining salary on a contract after it was signed. Four months and sixteen games with Spooner! Unheard of!
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You have to factor the expansion draft in here as well. Staal will probably have to be bought out at the end of next season because he otherwise would have to be protected due to his NMC. There might even be others who fall into that category next year depending on what the roster looks like then. Smith is going to have to be bought out or half his salary retained in an (unlikely) trade. Then you have the dead space of Girardi, Spooner, and Belesky already. You can't keep adding dead space. BTW, I think Gorton must have set some sort of record for shortest time retaining salary on a contract after it was signed. Four months and sixteen games with Spooner! Unheard of!

 

The expansion draft is 2021. Staal is a UFA by then. Actually the Rangers are only contractually obligated to two players past the 20-21 season: Skjei and Zibanejad.

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For sure they're going to consider this. Not sure if they do it but they'll definitely consider it. I'm sure they'll look to trade him and retain half first though.

 

Think this is as much Brooks looking to write a story on a slow day for a team that isn't going to the playoffs. Because Shattenkirk was a healthy scratch it gave Brooks an opening. Aside, think Quinn has benched him and Kreider as much to put the young guys on notice as because they've had some off nights.And because Quinn has good relationships with both. If this team was in the thick of playoff positioning these things do not ever happen. You cannot keep having tons of dead cap space. And above all every reason to think Shattenkirk into his mid 30s can be a decent offensive D/PP point man. And Gorton signed him; for him to buy him out would be a disaster.

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The thing to remember with Brooks and the Rangers is that he is often their conduit to float ideas to the public. I'm not sure they'd actually buy him out, but this story now being out there puts pressure on Shattenkirk's camp to perform well, which works in favor of the Rangers' front office if they're intent on moving on from him. He builds trade value as a result.
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If Shattenkirk is still here for camp it wouldn't take much for a pretty awkward situation to surface.

With the level, or lack thereof, of Shatty's play this season you'd imagine

Staal

De Angelo

Skjei

Pionk

Hajek

Claesson (if he's still here)

 

are pretty much locks. Any UFA's brought in or a couple of kids (Rykov?) having strong camps and it's difficult to imagine the current version of Shattenkirk putting in a strong claim to make the team out of camp.

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If Shattenkirk is still here for camp it wouldn't take much for a pretty awkward situation to surface.

With the level, or lack thereof, of Shatty's play this season you'd imagine

Staal

De Angelo

Skjei

Pionk

Hajek

Claesson (if he's still here)

 

are pretty much locks. Any UFA's brought in or a couple of kids (Rykov?) having strong camps and it's difficult to imagine the current version of Shattenkirk putting in a strong claim to make the team out of camp.

 

Smith too

 

if some kid outplays Shitts in camp, i'd have no problem burying him in AHL. and smith too

 

https://tenor.com/view/scarface-al-pacino-tony-montana-ibury-those-cockroaches-scarface-quotes-gif-5433142

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