Vitali Kravtsov officially made his NHL debut in Buffalo on Saturday evening.
The 21-year-old winger replaced Phillip Di Giuseppe in the Rangers line-up and appeared on the third line alongside Alexis Lafreniere and Filip Chytil. Kravtsov has been with the Blueshirts for just over a week since clearing the NHL’s COVID-19 protocols after his KHL Traktor team left the playoffs in early March.
“He practices well, he has plenty of time for us here,” said head coach David Quinn why Saturday was the right time for Kravtsov’s debut. “I just thought it was a good time to bring him in.”
With the new kid line, which is now on average 20 years old, the fourth line will feature Colin Blackwell, Kevin Rooney and Julien Gauthier.
Kravtsov, the Rangers’ ninth overall pick in 2018, comes off an impressive 2020-21 KHL season in which he had 16 goals and eight assists in 49 games. He also added two goals and two assists in five playoff games.
His promotion from the Rangers taxi team on Saturday means he will have a cap of $ 925,000.
“The most important thing you want them to do is enjoy it,” Quinn said of his message to Kravtsov. There will be nerves. They quickly disappear when you have a few shifts under your belt. … Just play your game, try not to do too much, do the things that brought you here and enjoy the moment. “
Goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin made his fifth start in a six-game period for the second time in his Rangers career.
For the first time since December 1995, the Rangers scored at least 62 goals in one calendar month (March).
Additionally, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome, and Adam Fox each scored at least 20 points during the month, just the sixth time in franchise history that three players scored 20 or more points in the same calendar month. The last trio of players to do this were Mark Messier, Brian Leetch and Pat Verbeek in 1995.
There are four Rangers who have 30 or more points this season (Strome, Fox, Artemi Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich). The Rangers are one of only three teams in the NHL with four players to have at least 30 points this season, along with the Lightning and Jets.
Of the 107 NHL players who logged at least 70 minutes of Shorthanded Ice Age this season, Ryan Lindgren (1.96), Buchnevich (2.80) and Fox (3.44) are in first, second, and fourth, respectively. Place in power play goals against every 60 minutes of power play time.
Lindgren was on the ice for just one power play goal this season, while Fox was on the ice for two and Buchnevich for three. In 31 of the last 32 games, Lindgren has not been on the ice for a power play goal against and has recorded a team-high 80:39 short ice age during that period.