Regarding the Rangers:
1. The argument against re-upping pending free-agent defenseman Keith Yandle always has been based as much on his deployment by Alain Vigneault as on the Rangers’ perennial cap crunch because it could not make sense to pay a third-pair defenseman and second-unit power-play guy upward of $6 million (minimum) per.
But now that the coach has not only finally turned the first power-play unit over to No. 93 — it took until Game 51, Feb. 4 against the Wild — but also has elevated him to the second pair at even strength, it is for the first time an open question whether the Blueshirts could somehow make it work on a contract, given that Yandle has consistently been among the club’s most effective players since assuming greater responsibility following the All-Star break.