The New York Rangers claimed former Seattle Kraken forward Tye Kartye off waivers over the weekend, and immediately inserted him into the lineup, presumably to give the team a physical spark. Safe to say they got some of that.
Kartye logged just 12 minutes of ice time in his Rangers debut on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins, which the Blueshirts ultimately won 3-2 in a shootout after coming back from down 2-0. Despite the relatively light workload, Kartye managed to dish out six hits, which tied his season-best output. His 0.24 hits per minute is easily the best mark of anyone on the Rangers to log over 400 total minutes on the season.
In addition to the physical edge, Kartye logged two shots on goal while playing on a line with Noah Laba and Brendan Brisson. He was on the ice for the Penguins’ second goal, but was walling off the point on his side of the ice as the puck deflected in off a shot from the other side, a tough-luck minus-1 for the 24-year-old.
Rangers GM Chris Drury brought Kartye in to give the Rangers an instant spark with his energy in the bottom-six, and head coach Mike Sullivan seems to have liked what he saw through one game.
“He came as advertised,” Sullivan said after the game (via the New York Post). “[Drury] talked to me about his motor and his ability to help us in the puck pursuit game, getting in on the forecheck, disrupting plays, making it hard on opponents’ breakout options, things of that nature. He has some physicality to his game.”
Other than 23-year-old power forward Will Cuylle, and the sideshow that is Matt Rempe, the Rangers have been lacking in terms of a physical game this season. The lack of that element has to be somewhere on the list of reasons why they’re in the basement of the Metropolitan Division.
Kartye certainly won’t turn the franchise around by himself. But his presence is a welcome one for a Rangers team that has played largely uninspired hockey, despite their talent and experience, both on the ice and behind the bench.