Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: NJD 4, NYR 2 (5:05 video via NHL.com)
• Vincent Mercogliano recaps last night’s defeat from the Prudential Center (LoHud)
• Brett Cyrgalis hears how Dan Girardi’s retirement is a sobering reality check for Marc Staal (NY Post)
• Dave Shapiro answered questions about the left side of the Blueshirts’ defense corps and Tony DeAngelo’s now resolved contract status (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Shapiro also suggests that regardless of his contract situation, DeAngelo isn’t long for Broadway (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Tom Castro makes the argument in favor of the Rangers holding firm on their $925,000 offer to DeAngelo (The Hockey Writers)
• Andrew Steele-Davis thinks that the team would be best off tabling any contract discussions with Chris Kreider until the end of the season (Blue Line Station)
• Steele-Davis also penned an ode to Dan Girardi (Blue Line Station)
• Frank Curto details why Brendan Smith could be a unique chess piece for David Quinn to deploy throughout the season (Elite Sports NY)
• Media Availability: Henrik Lundqvist (5:05) and Ryan Lindgren (0:56) (Official Team Site)/

Around the NHL:

• Andrew Berkshire determines who the league’s single best passer is (Sportsnet)
• Ryan Clark of The Athletic reports that the Colorado Avalanche have targeted an average annual value in the mid-$8 million range on a long term forward for restricted free agent forward Mikko Rantanen (TSN)
• Sean Leahy relays word that future Hockey Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr scored a goal in his first game back in the top Czech league at age 47 (NBC Sports)/