Bantering Points: 5/1/24

Here are today's news and links:

Rangers News:

Larry Brooks examines the work New York's front office, both in the form of current general manager Chris Drury and his two predecessors, has done to turn the team into the contender it has become (NY Post)

Mollie Walker heard from Peter Laviolette about the pros and cons of earning an extended rest following a quick playoff series victory vs an extended series with less time away from the ice from one series to the next (NY Post)

Colin Stephenson notes that even though Kaapo Kakko didn't put together as strong of a regular season performance as anyone would have liked, performing well in the playoffs will make the regular season a distant memory (Newsday)

Vincent Mercogliano highlighted five Rangers who were up to the challenge that the opening round of the playoffs brought forth (LoHud)

Lucas Standel points to Vincent Trocheck as New York's MVP from the first round series against Washington (The Hockey Writers)

Peter Baugh make$ the ca$e for each of Matt Rempe, Jonny Brodzin$ki, and Filip Chytil to be in the lineup when the $econd round begins (The Athletic)

Around the NHL:

The Carolina Hurricanes punched their ticket to the Metropolitan Division finals, defeating the New York Islanders 6-3 in Game 5 to win the series 4-1 and set up a second round clash with the Rangers (ESPN)

The Toronto Maple Leafs staved off elimination at the hands of the Boston Bruins, securing a 3-2 overtime victory on the road in Game 5 to send the series back to Toronto for Game 6 (Sportsnet)

Connor Bedard, (CHI) Brock Faber, (MIN) and Luke Hughes (NJD) have been named as finalists for the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie (TSN)