Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Highlights: CHI 5, NYR 2 (Video via NHL.com)
• Justin Tasch recaps the action from last night’s defeat at Madison Square Garden (NY Daily News)
• Steve Zipay goes in-depth on Alain Vigneault’s chances of leading New York to an eighth consecutive playoff berth (Newsday)
• Brett Cyrgalis highlights how the Rangers have benefited from Jesper Fast’s unexpectedly swift return to action (NY Post)
• Shayna Goldman thinks that Ryan McDonagh needs to elevate his game (FanRag)
• Becky from BSB previews the team’s final three games before their bye week (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Chris Watkins makes the case for why New York should be considered a dark horse contender for the Stanley Cup (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Karly Redpath looks back on the Blueshirts’ five most impactful moves of 2017 (Blue Line Station)
• Nicholas Zararis examines the tough choices Jeff Gorton has ahead of him as the trade deadline approaches (Blue Line Station)
• Shawn Taggart reminisces on Ulf Samuelsson’s days behind New York’s bench (Blueshirts Breakaway)
• Dominick Renna pinpoints discovering an organizational direction as New York’s goal for 2018 (Elite Sports NY)
• Brandon Spreckels argues that the team must do everything in their power to extend Michael Grabner’s contract (Elite Sports NY)/

Around the NHL:

• Elliotte Friedman authors another edition 31 Thoughts (Sportsnet)
• Alex Ovechkin, Steven Stamkos, P.K. Subban, and Connor McDavid have been voted as captains for the 2018 All-Star Game (TSN)
• James O’Brien reports that the Vegas Golden Knights have agreed to a six year, $30 million contract extension with forward Jonathan Marchessault (NBC Sports)
• Jared Clinton breaks down why the Golden Knights should be buyers as the trade deadline approaches (The Hockey News)
• Chris Nichols passes along the latest updates on the situations regarding Max Pacioretty and Mike Hoffman (FanRag)/

Site News:

• I’ve opened the polling for Blueshirt Banter’s third annual NFL Playoffs Bracket Challenge, so check it out before the games begin on Saturday/