Jones gets demoted
In the wake of an infuriating 3-2 overtime loss at the hands of Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators, the New York Rangers have sent down defenseman Zac Jones and have called up Jonny Brodzinksi and Ben Harpur from the Hartford Wolf Pack.
UPDATE: #NYR have recalled F Jonny Brodzinski and D Ben Harpur from @WolfPackAHL and have assigned D Zac Jones to Hartford.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 3, 2022
Per Mollie Walker, one Rangers forward is a game-time decision for tonight’s tilt against the Chicago Blackhawks, which is why Brodzinksi was brought up. Brodzinksi, 29, has 2 goals (both scored on the power play) and 7 assists in 17 GP with the Wolf Pack this season but he’s no stranger to spot duty in the NHL. He has 84 games of NHL experience and was in the lineup for 22 games with the Blueshirts last season.
The demotion of Zac Jones is the big news here. Harpur, 27, is a 6-foot-6 defender with 156 games of NHL experience to his name — with the Ottawa Senators and the Nashville Predators. The mammoth defender has 3 goals and 2 assists in Hartford this season and his 24 PIM is good for second on the team. The Wolf Pack are 5-7-5, by the way. They are an absolute disaster.
This move will give Jones more minutes to work on his game in Hartford but also puts the Rangers in a position where they are going to need to lean more on Libor Hajek. Which is terrifying. It’s peering into a bassinet hoping to see a baby but seeing an opossum with blood all over its snout that screeches out your social security number and tells you the day you’re going to die terrifying. It’s not good.
To be fair, Jones has also been altogether underwhelming. This feels like something that must have been cooking on the stove for a bit before the Rangers decided to finally pull the trigger and move forward without Jones in the lineup.
The Rangers will be back in action tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET to host the Chicago Blackhawks at MSG.