With less than a month until the March 8 deadline, the Rangers have opted to check out Matt Lempe rather than have additional space under the cap for at least the last two days.
That’s because general manager Chris Drury recalled that Lempe practiced before Sunday’s practice to make the 23-man roster for Monday’s game against the Flames, even though the Rangers were earning him a per diem. That’s because center Arou will lose $4,270.83 of his $820,000 salary.
In addition to the 6-foot-8 Rempe, who took a rookie lap before participating in pregame warmups, the Blueshirts had winger Tyler Pitlick and defenseman Zach Jones hurt from the 2-0 win.
Adam Edstrom was also recalled Sunday and entered the lineup, playing left wing on the checking line, with Barclay Goodrow in center and Jimmy Vesey on right.
The Blueshirts currently have a roster freeze due to Filip Sitil being placed on long-term waivers, but are expected to have $3,570,833 in slots available by the deadline.
That amount will increase incrementally when Lempe, Edstrom ($846,667) and Pitlick ($787,500) are sent to the Wolfpack.
Edstrom’s daily rate is $4,409.72, while Pitlick’s rate is $4,101.56.
Edstrom could have gotten a second chance with the Blueshirts sooner after impressing with a second-half goal in his debut against the Ducks on Dec. 15, but the 23-year-old The Swede sustained unexplained injuries in the Wolfpack. On December 27th, he was ruled out until February 10th.
He was recalled immediately after his first game back.
The 6-7 winger received 9:23 of ice time and 4:08 of ice time in the third period, including a substitution with 4:35 remaining, as the Blueshirts held a 1-0 lead.
“I thought he was a good guy. He’s a big guy who skates really well, and you could see him moving and skating with ease in practice,” head coach Peter Lavie said. Olette said. “I like his physicality. I like his awareness.
“He was a good defensive player.” [in Hartford] And we took the penalty, so we’re going to end up putting him in different scenarios, but there was nothing in the game that made me think he couldn’t play the last four or five minutes. ”
The Blueshirts went 0-for-3 in 4:19 on the man advantage, improving their offense to 0-for-17 in their last seven games.
The teams split into new alignments on the first power play and second shortened play, but returned to the standard PP1 on the man advantage in the third period.
The Blueshirts, who extended their winning streak to five games, will play the Canadiens at the Garden on Thursday and then face the Islanders at rainy MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
