Bantering Points: 2/17/24

Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

Larry Brooks notes that although he didn’t dress after his recall from AHL Hartford, Alex Belzile became the eight different forward to be promoted from Hartford this season (NY Post)

Mollie Walker heard from various members of the Blueshirts about the quality of the ice at MetLife Stadium, which has become notorious for shoddy field conditions (aside from the home teams that play on said field) and torn ACL’s aplenty (NY Post)

Colin Stephenson examines the impact of Blake Wheeler’s injury that will in all likelihood knock him out for the remainder of the season (Newsday)

Lucas Standel lists three players not getting much trade buzz that could be worthwhile for the Blueshirts to pursue (The Hockey Writers)

Arthur $taple and Kevin Kurz break down what a potential trade between the Ranger$ and Flyer$ centered around Scott Laughton could look like (The Athletic)

Around the NHL:

The Nashville Predators agreed to a two year, $1.8 million contract extension with forward Michael McCarron (ESPN)

The Pittsburgh Penguins claimed forward Matthew Phillips off waivers from the Washington Capitals (TSN)

Jason Bukala ponders how teams around the league will weight the value of draft picks as trade chips with the deadline drawing closer and closer (Sportsnet)

Tiffany Chan reports that the assault and battery charges brought against Boston Bruins’ forward Milan Lucic have been dropped due to the victim being unwilling to testify and a 911 call from the victim being tossed out as potential evidence (CBS)