Colin Stephenson: Rangers' waiver claims strengthening the roster
The Rangers' Tye Kartye skates during the first period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on Monday, Mar. 2, 2026. Credit: Jim McIsaac
When you’re in the process of “retooling’’ your team as Rangers GM Chris Drury is, not every move you make is going to be seismic.
There are smaller, subtler moves that can improve a roster, as well, such as claiming forward Tye Kartye off waivers on Feb. 27.
In his Jan. 16 letter to the fans announcing the retool, Drury said the team would be “smart and opportunistic’’ in its efforts to improve the roster. Claiming Kartye from Seattle and defenseman Vincent Iorio from San Jose would fall under the opportunistic category. Neither necessarily profiles as a potential future first-team All-Star, but both are young players with attributes the team believes can help.
Iorio, 23, is 6-4, 220, and the team believes he has potential as a defensive defenseman. Kartye, 5-11, 202, can kill penalties and forecheck, and after scoring his first goal as a Ranger in Monday’s win in Philadelphia, he had an assist in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over the Calgary Flames at the Garden.
The surging Alexis Lafreniere had a hat trick Tuesday, and goaltender Jonathan Quick earned his 65th career shutout, moving him past Rangers great Henrik Lundqvist into 17th place on the NHL all-time shutout list.
Kartye, who has a three-game point streak, has impressed coach Mike Sullivan.
“We’ve really liked Tye’s game,’’ Sullivan said after Monday’s win. “He can skate. He’s got a simple game. He plays north-south. He checks well. There’s a physical dimension to his game. He finishes checks. He’s abrasive, he’s willing to take hits to make plays. We’ve really liked how he’s fit in.’’
And Drury surrendered no assets to acquire the two players. Kartye learned around 11 a.m. Seattle time on Feb. 27 that he’d been claimed, and he immediately packed what he could and hustled to catch a 2:45 p.m. flight to New York.
He was in the lineup for the Rangers’ 12:30 p.m. game the next day against Pittsburgh. It was a whirlwind, but he admitted after the game that, in a way, not having a lot of time to think or prepare for such a major change wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Honestly, sometimes I think it’s better,’’ he said. “Just going out and playing and just having fun, I think, is almost better than overthinking it.’’
Kartye is off to a fine start with the Rangers. In his first game, against the Penguins, he played 12 minutes, 39 seconds and was credited with a team-high six hits. And after scoring Monday in Philadelphia, he added an assist Tuesday night when he collected Will Borgen’s long pass off the end boards and sent a cross-ice pass to Conor Sheary for a goal that made it 2-0 at 10:28 of the first period.
As he continues to try and learn more about his young players, Sullivan has partnered Kartye with Laba on what he’s used as the first penalty-killing forward duo Monday and Tuesday, and Kartye said being a good penalty-killer is something he prides himself in.
“That’s a huge role on any team,’’ he said. “If you can prevent the other team from scoring power-play goals, you’re going to give yourself a chance to win every night.’’
“Those guys have been pretty good [on the penalty kill],’’ Sullivan said of the Kartye-Laba partnership. “Labs has been pretty good in the faceoff circle, so if you can win that first faceoff, it really helps. You know, you get a 200-foot clear, and you’re stingy on the entry. It goes a long way to helping you kill penalties.’’
It’s not just the penalty kill where Sullivan is liking Kartye and Laba, though. The coach has been impressed with the Kartye-Laba-Sheary line at even strength the last two games.
“They’re just hard to play against,’’ he said after Tuesday’s game. “All three of them, they’re, you know, they’re just a dog on a bone on the puck. And the way they hunt pucks in the offensive zone and play on top of teams, and they’re just conscientious defensively, as well. And so they’re starting to get rewarded offensively.’’
Notes & quotes: J.T. Miller (IR, upper-body injury) skated with the extras in the morning before Tuesday’s game . . . Mika Zibanejad recorded his 800th career point and Adam Fox his 400th career point, both on Lafreniere’s five-on-three goal that opened the scoring at 17:27 of the first period . . . The Rangers leave Wednesday for Winnipeg, where they play the Jets Thursday before visiting the Minnesota Wild Saturday.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
