Hartnett: Rangers Add Hrivik To Crowded Competition Up Front
By Sean Hartnett
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It will be quite a battle once training camp starts.
The Rangers have re-signed their final restricted free agent, inking 24-year-old forward Marek Hrivik to a reported one-year, $600,000 two-way contract on Thursday afternoon. Hrivik will turn 25 on Aug. 28 and will be part of a crowded forward competition come September.
As the roster stands right now, Rick Nash, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller, Mika Zibanejad, Pavel Buchnevich, Kevin Hayes, Jesper Fast and Michael Grabner occupy 10 of the 12 regular forward spots. Oscar Lindberg would normally be included in that group, but he is expected to miss the first month of the regular season after undergoing successful hip surgery in early May.
That will leaves Hrivik, Nathan Gerbe, Tanner Glass, Josh Jooris, Nicklas Jensen and any other forward who catches Alain Vigneault's eye to fight it out for the few remaining spots spots. The Rangers also extended a professional tryout to 31-year-old forward Maxim Lapierre, who spent all of last season in Europe, splitting time between Modo Hockey of Sweden and HC Lugano of Switzerland.
Most Rangers fans remember Lapierre being decked by Derick Brassard during Game 5 of the first round of the 2015 Eastern Conference playoffs. The versatile 6-foot-2 forward, who is known to be an agitator both physically and verbally, was flattened by Brassard behind the Pittsburgh Penguins' net. Sportsnet audio picked up Brassard yelling: "Take a seat, baby! Take a seat! Take a (expletive) seat, baby! Woo!"
Others will remember Lapierre wagging his finger in the face of Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron during Game 2 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final after Vancouver Canucks teammate Alexandre Burrows bit Bergeron's finger in Game 1.
Lapierre skated in 80 combined games for the Penguins and St. Louis Blues during the 2014-15 season, collecting 11 points. He then dressed for all five games of the opening-round playoff series.
Despite playing parts of three seasons under Vigneault in Vancouver, Lapierre is a long shot to earn a contract with the Rangers. He will in all likelihood be an extra body for training camp, given the number of regulars heading to the World Cup of Hockey, which will take place from Sept. 17 to Oct. 1 in Toronto. Captain Ryan McDonagh, Stepan, Miller, Zuccarello and Henrik Lundqvist will be heading to the tournament.
Hrivik enjoyed a standout season for AHL Hartford in 2015-16, collecting 41 points in 68 regular season games. The Slovakian forward made his NHL debut at Madison Square Garden against the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 21. He ended up skating in five games for the Blueshirts, collecting one assist and posting a plus-3 rating.
"Strong on the body, good skill set and they use him there quite a bit to kill penalties and we will see what he can do at this level," Vigneault said prior to Hrivik's debut. "In Hriv's case he has been in the minors for a couple of years now. I've seen a steady progression since I have been here."
General manager Jeff Gorton's goal this summer has been to improve a penalty kill that fell to 26th overall last season at 78.2 percent.
"There's no secret, right, that our penalty kill was not good," Gorton said. "Some of the moves we've made, if not all of them, have some part in that. We have to be better there."
Hrivik received 18:18 of ice time, including 54 seconds on the PK, during the April 9 regular season finale against the Red Wings at MSG. He is capable of filling a fourth line/penalty killing role. The same can be said about new recruits Gerbe and Jooris. Jensen impressed for Denmark during the IIHF World Championship in May and Glass has long been a Vigneault favorite.
It's important to remember that Hrivik was the extra forward recalled by the Rangers hours before last season's playoff opener against the Penguins on April 13. Quite a few Blueshirts had been nursing injuries and Hrivik was brought in as a precaution in case any forward was forced to sit out Game 1. He remained a healthy scratch throughout the series.
Hrivik has shown improvement each season. He is a good skater with skilled hands and is responsible defensively. In his limited NHL duty, he's passed the eye test. It remains to be seen if his steady AHL production will translate at the next level. Some guys have their way with AHL competition and find it difficult to cut it offensively when pitted against experienced pros in the NHL.
It will be interesting to see how long of a look Hrivik gets during training camp. At worst, he's a good depth guy to have around in the minors.
Follow Sean on Twitter at @HartnettHockey
