Pat Leonard at the Daily News reports that Ulf Samuelsson is a leading candidate to be hired as one of Alain Vigneault’s assistants. Samuelsson, who was the head coach of Modo (SEL) last season, has apparently left that job. moved to Phoenix and his looking for a job in the NHL.

The former Rangers defenseman was an assistant in Phoenix from 2006 through 2011.

Leonard also notes that Newell Brown might be a candidate to join the staff, having worked the past three seasons on Vigneault’s staff in Vancouver.

Brown, who also worked in Chicago, Columbus and Anaheim, was in charge of a Canucks power play that went from first in the league in 2009-10 to fourth in 2010-11 and then plummeted to 22nd this past season.

...there's a lot to like about Samuelsson. First and foremost is his connection to the Rangers. Always nice to have someone on the staff who's worn the Blueshirt and has experienced what it's like to play in this market.

Now that Alain Vigneault is all but the Rangers new head coach, what exactly are we getting? Jeff Klein at the New York Times gives us some insight...

"Going by his track record, Vigneault, 52, will stress offense and puck possession over forechecking, tolerate the mistakes of young players instead of bench them at the first missed assignment, and be a good communicator with his players instead of publicly insulting them."

...wow, talk about the anti-Torts. Sounds like the absolute polar opposite.

While Vigneault will bring a more wide open offensive style, Pat Leonard at the Daily News informs Rangers fans that they need not worry about him abandoning Henrik Lundqvist and the defense, as the main reason his Canucks teams were so successful was because of the defense-first foundation he installed. Here's Vigneault's former assistant in Vancouver Rick Bowness further explaining to the Daily News...

This weekend the NHL announced their 2013 award winners and unfortunately, Henrik Lundqvist came up short in his bid for a second straight Vezina Trophy as he finished in second place to Sergei Bobrovsky.

Bobrovsky doubled the amount of votes Lundqvist received (110 to 55).

Bobrovsky had a better goals against average (2.00 to 2.05) and save percentage (.932 to .926) as well as more shutouts (4 to 2) than Lundqvist. The Ranger netminder did have more victories (24 to 21).

...as much as I'd love to be a homer and tell you that Lundqvist was jobbed, he wasn't. Bobrovsky bested Lundqvist in three of the four major goaltending categories, while playing behind a much worse team. The only argument you could have for Lundqvist is that he was able to put the Rangers on his back and get them into the postseason, while Bobrovsky was not.

Here's an awesome compilation of Lundqvist's greatest saves from this year...

Since it was announced that John Tortorella had been relieved of his duties, while Mike Sullivan remained with the club, Rangers fans reaction has been "what?!?!?" Fear not Blueshirt fans, Katie Strang at ESPN seems to think it's only a matter of time before the Rangers assistant coach is gone...

"Though the Rangers have not made any official decisions on their assistants, Mike Sullivan's close relationship with Tortorella makes it unlikely he'll return."

...it really is amazing that Sullivan lasted this long with how God awful the Rangers power play has been under his tutelage. If there's anyone on planet earth who deserves to be fired, it's Mike Sullivan. At times during his tenure I wondered if Rangers assistant coach was a civil service position which precluded Sather from firing him.

Sullivan could, however, find himself right back at Tortorella's side next season but on the west coast as apparently the Rangers former head man is making a nice impression with the Canucks.

As far as who will join Alain Vigneault behind the Rangers bench, Strang mentions Ulf Samuelsson, who is highly regarded in the Rangers organization, as a possible candidate. Apparently, Samuelsson filled out the Rangers' head coaching questionnaire.

Last month, it was announced that Ryan Callahan underwent successful surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The Rangers captain recently gave an update on his progress (via Blueshirts United)...

"It's getting there, slowly but surely (my shoulder) is feeling better. The first week (after surgery) was tough."

As I suspected, Callahan admitted the injury occured in a fight with Flyers forward Max Talbot on January 29th at Madison Square Garden, but didn't make any excuses for playing with the injury for virtually the entire season...

Going into the off-season, most Rangers fans assumed Brad Richards being bought out was a slam dunk, but Larry Brooks at the New York Post says not so fast...

"Given the change in coaches and the absence of cost-effective available talent down the middle on the free agent market, it is beginning to seem more and more likely the Rangers won’t be asking Brad Richards to clean out his locker during the amnesty buyout period that will follow the Stanley Cup Finals."

...while the Rangers would be taking a huge risk here if Richards gets injured during the season and becomes ineligible for the buyout, I'm still not 100% against keeping him around this year as I think he still has some hockey left in him. Plus, the Rangers are in win now mode and a veteran who's "been there" is very valuable come playoff time. I know Richards' performance this past postseason didn't prove that theory, but I'm going to give him a pass due to the lockout. You guys might not agree with that, but there's no denying that he was woefully unprepared for the beginning of the season and it just spiraled out of control on him.

Welp, it looks like Alain Vigneault's flight to New York yesterday was to meet with James Dolan and I guess it was an effective meeting as apparently the former Canucks coach turned down a significant offer from the Dallas Stars after interviewing with the Rangers owner. He is now considered the hands down favorite for the position.

Here's some more on Vigneault.

...those Dolans can be persuasive. I mean look at how he's convinced us fans to spend ridiculous amounts of money on tickets and concessions. Dolan probably called the Stars before the meeting to tell them to put their money back in their pocket because Vigneault was about to become the next Rangers head coach.

...if Sather wanted the anti-Torts, then he got it. I think the players are going to be very happy with this hire as Vigneault is a stark contrast to the in your face style of Tortorella. Vigneault is known as a guy who lets the team police itself, so Callahan is really going to have to more of a vocal leader instead of one who leads by example.

...Vigneault obviously did an outstanding job of getting the most out of his star players in Vancouver, the hope in New York will be that he can do the same with Nash, Stepan and Kreider.

According to Dan Rosen at NHL.com, Mark Messier has confirmed that he's been interviewed by the Rangers for their head coach vacancy....

"Yes, of course," Messier told NHL.com when asked Friday at United Center if he has formally interviewed with Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather. "That was one thing I wanted to have happen, to go through the process like everybody else and to experience that, and to give Glen the opportunity to make a decision that he feels comfortable with."

...this obviously isn't much of a surprised as he's been considered a top candidate from Day 1, but I guess it's news that he's actually been interviewed.

...while I'm still against his candidacy, one argument that has me starting to lean the other way regarding Messier is that the Rangers have ONE Stanley Cup in the last 73 years. How much worse can he actually make it?

...and yes, I am aware today is the anniversary of 1994, but I refuse to celebrate the fact that the Rangers haven't won a Stanley Cup in 19 years.

In other interviewing news, the LA Times reports that Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi said that assistant coach John Stevens is expected to interview with the Rangers.

@SunGarrioch Coach A Vigneault of 6:30am flight to NYC. #interview?

— Tony De Marinis (@tonydmayor) June 14, 2013

According to some random guy which was re-tweeted by the Ottawa Sun's Bruce Garrioch, Alain Vigneault is on a plane today destined for NYC, presumably for a second interview with the Rangers. Job offer in the works? Stay tuned....

UPDATE: 1:40 PM: Someone else spotted Vigneault on a plane heading east today....

@jessespector Your wish is almost coming true. Just spotted Vigneault at zee airport en route to NYC. #rangers

— Bimm M. (@bimm) June 14, 2013

Airport stalkers at the airport in Vancouver? Tortorella, Ruff and now this....

Follow me on twitter: @NYRblogneill
Email me: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

In an exclusive interview with Chuck Gormley of CSN Washington, Capitals head coach Adam Oates opened up about his first season as a head choch, including losing to the Rangers in the playoffs. And it must be said: it sounds like a bunch of finger pointing and complaining.

On the series against the Rangers...

'' I think we played pretty good hockey for six-and a-half games. I don’t think we got the best shake with the referees, especially in New York [in Game 6]. I don’t think the discrepancy of the calls [five power plays for the Rangers, none for the Caps] were fair, but what are you going to do about it, right?  [Rangers goalie Henrik] Lundqvist played fantastic. I mean, my token answer to you is that Lundqvist played absolutely fantastic and we couldn't’ get through him. I talked to a lot of the guys about finding other ways to beat a good goalie and we could’t find other ways to get opportunities.''