NEW YORK — Even before Jonathan Quick reached the 400-win milestone Sunday, Jake Oettinger didn’t hesitate to make a declaration about the 39-year-old New York Rangers goalie.
“In my opinion, he’s the best American goaltender of all time,” said the Dallas Stars starter, who will play for Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off later this month.
Quick is the winningest American goalie and first to reach 400. Both current and former teammates rave about him, and plenty of American goalies admire his play. The Calgary Flames’ Dustin Wolf, who grew up in California when Quick was on the Los Angeles Kings, considers him a childhood idol, and Quick gave him an autographed stick in November.
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Oettinger traveled to Los Angeles to watch Henrik Lundqvist, his favorite goalie growing up, face off against Quick in the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. He can’t remember if it was Game 1 or 2, but Oettinger knows Quick came away with the win in overtime.
“He’s just such a fun goalie to watch,” said Oettinger, who, like Quick, has worked with trainer Ben Prentiss in recent offseasons. “Our styles are obviously so different, and he’s so athletic. I started liking him even more once I got to train around him a little bit and got to know him a little bit. Everyone loves him.”
Oettinger played for Team USA at the 2021 World Championships, and one of the team’s equipment managers, Dana Bryson, worked for the Kings during the season. Oettinger asked Bryson to get him one of Quick’s sticks, and Bryson came through. The stick still hangs from Oettinger’s wall.
Seeing how seriously Quick takes his work in the gym has also made an impact on Oettinger.
“I think (that) kind of made me want to take this side of the game more seriously,” he said. “He’s been training at such a high level for his whole career. … Shows you what you can do if you take care of yourself.”
Oettinger’s praise for Quick leads off this week’s observations column. I have 10 more this week.
1. The end of J.T. Miller’s Vancouver Canucks tenure was messy. He took a 10-game leave of absence for personal reasons in November and had a rift with star teammate Elias Pettersson that leaked into the public. Rangers general manager Chris Drury said the team’s front office did “a lot of homework” on both the Pettersson situation and Miller in general before making the move.
“Obviously, I’m not in their dressing room or part of their organization, but I wouldn’t have done the deal if I didn’t feel comfortable as to what he’s going to bring to us on and off the ice,” Drury said.
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2. Part of Drury’s homework was talking to Vincent Trocheck, who is childhood friends with Miller from their time growing up in the Pittsburgh area. Miller said after the Vegas Golden Knights game Sunday that he’s living with Trocheck in the immediate aftermath of the trade.
“I didn’t ask,” he said. “Just moved right in.”
J.T. Miller has two goals and four points in two games since rejoining the Rangers. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
3. Part of Miller’s legacy in Vancouver will always be how it ended. His on-ice impact, though, was undeniable. He had 437 points in 404 games, making him one of only two Canucks ever to average more than a point per game. The other, Pavel Bure, is in the Hall of Fame.
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4. The Rangers sent Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini and a protected first-round pick to Vancouver in the Miller deal. New York also got Erik Brännström and Jackson Dorrington in the package.
Chytil told Vancouver media he was watching Harry Potter when he learned of his trade. He said he was excited about potentially getting more ice time with the Canucks than he was in New York. He certainly did in his debut, playing 20:03, the most he’s played in a game since October 2021.
Chytil also spoke about the challenges in New York this season, especially during the Rangers 4-15-0 rut.
“It was a very difficult stretch from winning the Presidents’ Trophy last year to this,” he said. “You’ve got to stay strong mentally. Of course, you have stretches like this in a season. It can happen, but it’s about how you’re strong mentally and how you can get back on track as fast as you can. It was tough, but you learn the most in the most difficult moments.”
5. All three members of the Rangers’ now-defunct Kid Line scored Sunday: Alexis Lafrenière for the Rangers, Kaapo Kakko for the Seattle Kraken and Chytil for the Canucks.
6. Mancini played with the Rangers for only 15 games at the NHL level, but that was enough to make some special memories. His grandfather Remo grew up in Brooklyn and used to scrape together enough money to get 40-cent tickets to the old Madison Square Garden. Both Remo and Mary, Victor’s grandmother, are in their 90s, and they traveled from their Las Vegas home for the Rangers’ home opener.
It was a meaningful full-circle moment for the family, and Mancini thought about it shortly after the trade. He told his dad, Bob, how happy he was that Remo got to see him play at Madison Square Garden.
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7. Brännström split time between the NHL and AHL this year, and he will start his time in the Rangers’ organization with AHL Hartford. The 25-year-old was a first-round pick by Ottawa in 2017 and has played 294 career NHL games.
At 5 feet, 10 inches, Brännström is a smaller puck-moving defenseman. New York already has a player like that in Zac Jones, who has been a healthy scratch every game since Dec. 23. Jones’ future with the club is already murky. The 24-year-old needs to play games for the sake of his development, but New York doesn’t want to put him on waivers and risk losing him for nothing.
Perhaps having a little extra organizational depth in Brännström will make New York more willing to move Jones, though Drury likely would have already traded him had a team offered anything of note. He already granted Jones’ camp permission to talk to other teams about a deal, but nothing has materialized.
8. Chris Kreider is still one goal away from tying Camille Henry for most power-play goals in team history. He nearly got it against the Boston Bruins, but Jeremy Swayman robbed him with a glove save. He also had a good screen in front of Adin Hill against Vegas, helping Artemi Panarin score in the third period.
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9. Finland officially named Urho Vaakanainen one of its injury replacements for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Vaakanainen has been a solid fit with the Rangers since coming over in the Jacob Trouba trade and made a nice backchecking play against the Golden Knights to break up a potential two-on-zero rush.
“He’s a real good defender,” Peter Laviolette said. “He moves the puck. He’s big and strong. Certainly a great nod for him to be added to that tournament and that team. I think it shows he’s played well since he’s been here.”
10. With Miller back in New York, Laviolette has played Mika Zibanejad at top-line right wing, though the coach said the two players both take faceoffs and handle some center responsibility.
“I’ve played center with another center on the wing before, and I like it, because you feel like you have that defensive responsibility from another guy who knows how to play low, as well, and is comfortable doing so,” Zibanejad said.
(Top photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
