PHILADELPHIA — Think the Rangers are happy to have Patrick Kane on their team?
“It’s excitement for me, especially [since] that was my idol growing up,’’ Kid Line center Filip Chytil said before Vladimir Tarasenko's wrist shot gave the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime win over the Flyers in Wells Fargo Center Wednesday. “So I’m very happy that he joined us, and I can’t wait to play with him and have him around.’’
“I’m just excited to see him up close and have him on our team and see what he’s going to do,’’ Mika Zibanejad said.
The Rangers could have used Kane Wednesday night, but management decided to hold off on inserting the 34-year-old into the lineup until Thursday’s home game at Madison Square Garden against the Ottawa Senators. Without him, and with defenseman Ryan Lindgren missing his second straight game with an upper-body injury, the Blueshirts were two bodies short against the Flyers, going with only 16 skaters, instead of the normal 18.
And they looked really tired in the second period when they fell behind 2-1 on a goal by Philadelphia’s Scott Laughton, who beat Igor Shesterkin (25 saves) over the shoulder.
But Tarasenko, whose acquisition in a trade with defenseman Niko Mikkola from St. Louis on Feb. 9 had appeared to kill the Rangers’ interest in getting Kane, had set up the tying goal by Chris Kreider, and then scored the winner at 2:32 of overtime to give the Rangers their second straight win.
After all the salary-cap gymnastics the team had to perform to create the necessary space under the cap to add Kane late Tuesday, at least the Rangers could finally talk about having the former Chicago star forward on their team.
The Rangers acquired Kane in a three-way deal with Chicago and Arizona, sending a conditional 2023 second-round draft pick, a 2025 fourth-round pick and minor-league defenseman Andy Welinski to Chicago, and a 2025 third-round pick to Arizona to get Kane and minor-league defenseman Cooper Zech.
But all that was worth it, the Rangers believed, to get Kane, the three-time Stanley Cup champion with Chicago, 2016 Hart Trophy winner as MVP, and fourth-leading scorer among American-born players in NHL history with 446 goals and 1,225 points.
“Obviously, to get a player like Kane is outstanding,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said. “He’s a great competitor, Stanley Cup champion. So he’s exactly what we needed, and we’re real happy to have him.”
Kane’s addition gives the Rangers a top-six forward group of himself, Tarasenko, Zibanejad, Kreider, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, with the Kid Line of Chytil, Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko rounding out the top nine.
“When you see our team, every player, if somebody would tell me before I would step into the NHL . . . these names that I would play with, for me that would be unreal,’’ Chytil said. “So for me now, it’s great] that I can be part of this team, and just, every practice showing that I belong here and showing that I want to be at their level.’’
Defenseman Braden Schneider, who was dressed and on the bench but did not play in the Rangers’ 5-2 win over the Kings on Sunday, and then was assigned to AHL Hartford (for two days) for salary-cap reasons, said he was happy to make a sacrifice to help get Kane on board.
“They explained the situation to me and it’s a pretty special player,’’ Schneider said. “I think it definitely made us better. And it was a thing that needed to be done. So it made sense. [And I was] happy to do my part.’’
Thursday, finally, they’ll all get to meet the new guy.
