There were not a lot of people who thought Vladislav Namestnikov would still be a Ranger at this point, but he’s likely to be a Ranger through this year of rebuilding.
The 25-year-old forward came to the Blueshirts as an add-on to the trade last February that sent Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to the Lightning. He had been in the midst of a career year with Tampa, having skated alongside two of the best in the league in Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov while compiling 20 goals and 44 points in the first 62 games.