Day: February 28, 2023

Ahead of the Patrick Kane trade announcement, the Rangers have made a minor deal, sending towering 6-7 right wing Austin Rueschhoff to the Nashville Predators in exchange for future considerations.  The 25 year old is yet to play in the NHL, and is set to be a Group VI UFA this Summer.

Signed in the spring of 2020 out of Western Michigan University, the lanky native of Missouri played in 113 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack, tallying 20 goals and 23 assists along with 92 penalty minutes.  With the addition of Will Lockwood in the Vitali Kravtsov trade, chances were that Rueschhoff could have seen his ice time further reduced, so moving him to Nashville gives him a bit more of a chance to play out the season and perhaps earn a pro contract for next season.

There were no breaks for the New York Rangers and K’Andre Miller today, with the league handing down a three game suspension for spitting on Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty.  Miller can appeal the suspension and make his case to league commissioner Gary Bettman, or he can accept the term which will see him miss games against the Flyers, Senators and Bruins.

While Miller claimed it was an accident, and appeared to be shocked after the call was made, he was clearly careless with his actions, with a crowd of players around him as he spat.  While the suspension does follow the precedent of Garnet Hathaway’s spitting event against Eric Gudbranson, it isn’t exactly the same, with the Ranger defenseman perhaps more guilty of poor judgement than a willful act as was the case of Hathaway who responded to a sucker punch from his opponent.