The Rangers will defer naming a captain to succeed Ryan Callahan until the offseason after playing the rest of the year with Brad Richards, Marc Staal and Dan Girardi wearing the alternate’s “A” on their jerseys.
General manager Glen Sather traded Callahan to the Lightning on Wednesday in exchange for their captain, Martin St. Louis, along with a first-round draft pick in 2015 and a second-rounder in 2014.
“Glen and I were just discussing that as we were coming up here,” coach Alain Vigneault said before his team lost to the Maple Leafs 3-2 in overtime at the Garden. “We’re going to leave it with three A’s for the remainder of the year and then deal with that this summer.”
Staal would be considered the front-runner to become captain next season if — and only if — the defenseman signs a contract extension over the summer and thus renounces pending 2015 free agency.
Indeed, the offer of the captaincy is likely to become part of the negotiations with Staal, who obviously has a pull toward Carolina, where his brothers Eric and Jordan play for the Hurricanes.
If Staal does not sign an extension, the captaincy could then be bestowed upon Richards (if he is not an amnesty buyout), Girardi or Ryan McDonagh.
The Blueshirts also addressed a need for depth on defense, picking up rental property in 28-year-old Raphael Diaz from the Canucks in exchange for a fifth-rounder in 2015.
Diaz, who went from Montreal to Vancouver a couple of weeks ago after spending parts of three seasons with the Canadiens, is a 5-foot-11, 195-pound lefty who likely leapfrogs Justin Falk on the depth chart as the seventh defenseman.
After Vigneault expressed some concern of fatigue for goalie Henrik Lundqvist in the wake of his return from the Olympics, the coach gave his franchise netminder the day off on Tuesday and got him back to work on Wednesday night.
“That was a good opportunity to get an extra day,” Lundqvist said after the morning skate. “It was an intense tournament we played in and coming back, it was important to put it behind you.”
After backing up Cam Talbot in last Thursday’s 2-1 victory over the Blackhawks, Lundqvist surrendered 10 goals on 64 shots in back-to-back weekend 4-2 and 6-3 defeats to the Flyers and Bruins, respectively.
“I look at those two games and I don’t think I played bad, but did I come up with the big saves? I don’t think so,” Lundqvist said. “There were crucial times in both games where I could have made the difference but didn’t. It is not enough to just play OK. You need to be on top of your game. It’s a matter of coming up with the big save at the right time.”
The Rangers assigned J.T. Miller to the AHL Wolf Pack, an indication that Mats Zuccarello (left hand fracture) should be ready to return to the lineup either on Friday in Carolina or Sunday at home against the Red Wings.
Derek Dorsett took Miller’s spot in the lineup after being a healthy scratch on Sunday against the Bruins. He played 10:07, and got just one shift in the third period.