Rangers Assign Magnus Hellberg to Hartford

New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton announced today that the team has assigned goaltender Magnus Hellberg to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Hellberg was recalled on Feb. 2 to be Henrik Lundqvist's backup while goltender Antti Raanta was with his wife for the birth of their child.

Hellberg has appeared in 26 games with the Wolf Pack this season, posting a 10-9-5 record, along with a 2.86 GAA and a .905 SV%. Hellberg has allowed two goals or fewer in five of his last six AHL appearances (3-2-1 record, 1.80 GAA, .939 SV% over the span.

Rangers assign Magnus Hellberg to Hartford

The New York Rangers assigned Magnus Hellberg to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League on Thursday.

Hllberg earned First-Star honors on Jan. 6 vs. Lehigh Valley, with 31 saves in 2-1 win, and made a Wolf Pack season-high 40 saves in 2-1 shootout loss on Dec. 11 at Providence. He earned First-Star honors in 3-1 win at Lehigh Valley on nov. 26 (31 saves), and was victorious in his first shootout of season on Nov. 20 vs. Providence (24 saves, 2-for-3 in shootout, in 4-3 win).

Hellberg has posted a 10-9-4 record with a .905 SV% and a 2.91 GAA in 68 games with Hartford in 2016-17.

Rangers recall Magnus Hellberg from Hartford

New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton announced today that the team has recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Hellberg, 25, has appeared in 25 games with the Wolf Pack this season, posting a 10-9-4 record, along with a 2.91 GAA and a .905 SV%. Hellberg has allowed two goals or fewer in four of his last five appearances, including one goal in two of those contests (3-2-0 record, 1.80 GAA, .942 SV% over the span).

The 6-6, 209-pounder has appeared in 176 career AHL games over five seasons (2012-13 - 2016-17), posting an 82-65-13 record, along with a 2.45 GAA, a .915 SV%, and 13 SO. In his first season with the Wolf Pack in 2015-16, Hellberg posted a 30-20-3 record, along with a 2.40 GAA, a .918 SV%, and 3 SO in 53 appearances. He established AHL career-highs in appearances and wins last season, and he became the first Wolf Pack goaltender to register 30 wins in one season since 2004-05 (Jason LaBarbera).

Hellberg has appeared in two NHL games in his career. He appeared in one game with the Rangers last season, making his debut with the Blueshirts on Dec. 20, 2015 vs. Washington.

The Uppsala, Sweden, native was acquired by the Rangers from Nashville in exchange for a sixth round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft on July 1, 2015.

Nieves, Hellberg assigned to Hartford; Fontaine sent to junior team; Glass and Gerbe on waivers

The New York Rangers on Friday assigned Cristoval Nieves and Magnus Hellberg to the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL). In addition Gabriel Fontaine has been assigned to his junior team.

Tanner Glass and Nathan Gerbe have been placed on waivers, but have not officially been assigned to Hartford.

The following players remain on the Rangers' roster:

Rangers recall G Magnus Helberg from Hartford (AHL) after injury to Lundqvist

"The Neutral Zone" Staff Report

Magnus Hellberg

The New York Rangers on Thursday recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League due to the injury sustained to Henrik Lundqvist in game one of the Rangers' first round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday.

Lundqvist was hit in the eye with teammate Marc Staal's stick in the game, finished the first period, and did not return for the second or even the rest of the game.

Hellberg has appeared in one game with the Rangers this season.

News and Notes

The New York Rangers have Officially announced that they have returned Defenseman Brady Skjei and Goaltender  Magnus Hellberg to Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL.

Rangers Recall Magnus Hellberg From Hartford on an Emergency Basis

Statement from the Rangers website.

Magnus Hellberg

New York Rangers General Manager Jeff Gorton announced today that the team has recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL) on an emergency basis.

Hellberg, 24, has appeared in 40 games with the Wolf Pack this season, posting a 22-16-2 record, along with a 2.39 GAA, a .919 SV%, and 3 SO. He has established an AHL career-high in appearances and has tied his AHL career-high in wins in 2015-16. Hellberg is tied for third in the AHL in appearances, ranks sixth in wins, is tied for seventh in SO, and is tied for ninth in GAA and SV% this season. He has posted a 14-6-0 record, along with a 2.08 GAA, a .931 SV%, and 2 SO in his last 20 appearances.

The 6-6, 200-pounder has appeared in one game with the Rangers this season, making his debut with the Blueshirts on Dec. 20 vs. Washington.

NYR NEWS & NOTES 12/23

OFFICIAL:
Chris Summers and Magnus Hellberg have been loaned back to the Hartford Wolf Pack. (AHL Transaction Wire) 

Magnus Hellberg

Summers and Hellberg were called up last Friday on emergency recall after Antti Raanta was hurt against Minnesota.

Since being called up, Summers has played in three games, is a minus two, has 4 PIM, 5 shots, 4 hits, 1 blocked shot and an average of 15:23.

Hellberg came in to replace Henrik Lundqvist against the Capitals and stopped 4 of 6 shots in 20 minutes.

Chris Summers

Raphael Diaz will stay in North America this season but signed a 5-year deal in Switzerland that starts next year

Raphael Diaz will finish this season with the Rangers organization but has signed a five-year deal to return to Zug in the Swiss league starting next season. (Zug via PHT)

Diaz's contract with Zug has an out-clause in his Swiss contract to return to the NHL if a team signs him to a one-way, two-year deal. (Zug)

Diaz has only played 10 games for the Wolf Pack this season and hasn't played since suffering an injury on 11/15.

Alain Vigneault said that Diaz would have been called up when Brady Skjei was, but Diaz was hurt.

The sense from other GMs is that the Rangers may try and shake something up

Craig Custance spoke with other NHL General Managers who have the sense that Jeff Gorton is "looking to do something to shake things up" after a less than impressive season so far. (ESPN Insider)

One person told Custance to "watch the Rangers." (ESPN Insider)

Custance says that the Rangers may have interest in trading Dan Boyle but Boyle has no interest in leaving the Rangers. (ESPN Insider)

Other NHL GMs believe that the Rangers would move Keith Yandle, despite his cap hit of $2.625 million, "for the right price." (ESPN Insider)

Adam Rotter: The idea of the Rangers wanting to do something isn't surprising but the possibilities of what they could do are limited. Jeff Gorton is going to need to be creative if he wants to do something to "shake things up." Cap space is limited, the Rangers need to keep their prospects and picks and there are guys locked into no-move and no-trade clauses. Things will be difficult if the Rangers want to do something, but the biggest shakeup possible would be if the guys currently on the roster play better.

Getting Kevin Hayes and Chris Kreider going, would be like adding two top-six forwards. Getting Dan Girardi back to being Dan Girardi would be like adding a top-four defenseman. It's everyone. The Rangers can keep all of the same players but become a much different team if their guys get going.

Brady Skjei sent to Hartford/Magnus Hellberg and Chris Summers Called Up

 
Sep 22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; New York Rangers goalie Magnus Hellberg (45) in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers won 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports (Bill Streicher)

The Rangers have sent Brady Skjei to Hartford according to the AHL Transaction wire.

Last night against the Wild, Skjei played 15:17, saw 2:06 on the PK and had 1 shot on goal, 2 hits, 2 blocked shots and a holding penalty.

Alain Vigneault said of Skjei last night, "he is a young player ,we can all see the upside but this is the NHL and he will get better with every game that he gets."

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Magnus Hellberg and Chris Summers have been called up from Hartford on an emergency basis. (Brooks)

Hellberg was called up due to the injury to Antti Raanta last night.
This season in the AHL, Summers has 3 assists in 27 games, a minus 6 rating, 23 PIM and 19 shots on goal.

Hellberg is 8-8-2 with a 2.62 GAA and .908 save percentage.

Adam Rotter: This has more to do with the cap issues, the need for a goalie and the roster freeze coming this weekend. Skjei looked like a rookie but certainly one with a ton of promise who could very well make the roster next season and/or be a call up later this season if needed.

With the roster freeze coming and the Rangers apparent ability to send Summers, and if needed Hellberg, down to Hartford since they are on emergency recall, the Rangers will be able to save some space if Kevin Klein is ready. If Skjei were to be with the Rangers past tomorrow night's roster freeze the Rangers would count him on the cap until it was lifted and that would ultimately hurt the Rangers ability to bank cap space for later in the season.