Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Greg Joyce discusses how one year after toiling away in AHL Hartford a la Wade Redden, Brendan Smith’s versatility has helped him revive his NHL career (NY Post)
• Joyce also notes that upon league review Brendan Lemieux won’t face any supplemental discipline for the hit to the head he delivered against the Vancouver Canucks (NY Post)
• Colin Stephenson relays word that Chris Kreider was fined the maximum amount of $5,000 for elbowing Canuck’s forward Elias Petersson on Wednesday (Newsday)
• Sean Hartnett thinks that although he hasn’t had the talent needed to win close games, David Quinn’s first five months on Broadway have paved the way for optimism (WFAN)
• Pat Keogh cites the New Jersey Devils’ current predicament as a worst case scenario for the end result of the Rangers’ rebuild (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Justin Bonhard writes that with every reason to simply go through the motions down the stretch, Vladislav Namestnikov has been one of the Blueshirts’ better players as of late (elite Sports NY)
• Jordan Goldberg believes that the best of Pavel Buchnevich is yet to come (The Hockey Writers)
• Alan Schechter argues that although the Blueshirts record may be sub-par, signs of good things to come are clear and obvious throughout Rangerstown (Empire Writes Back)
• David Bruce details why the Hartford Wolfpack need to tear down and begin again, much like their NHL affiliate (Blue Line Station)/

Around the NHL:

• Mark Spector credits the league’s playoff format for creating season-long rivalries that definitely didn’t exist in any of the league’s previous 100+ seasons (Sportsnet)
• Travis Yost previews possible first round playoff matchups for the Winnipeg Jets, Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Montreal Canadiens (TSN)
• James O’Brien saw that just after breaking Ed Belfour’s team record of 219:26 of shutout hockey, Dallas Stars’ goaltender Ben Bishop had to exit the game due to a lower-body injury (NBC Sports)
• Ken Campbell hears that scouts around the league are praising the league’s decision to move the draft lottery up to April 9th, about two weeks earlier than it normally takes place (The Hockey News)/