Rangers lose Johan Witehall

Johan Witehall, a 28 year old forward from Sweden, was picked up off waivers today by the Montreal Canadiens. I am not exactly sure why Witehall was put on waivers, but it was likely that the Rangers tried to send him to the minors, thus taking a chance of putting him on waivers. But now it looks like a bad move as Johan is headed to Montreal, which needs all the help they can get.

I am kind of upset by this move. I don’t feel Witehall was given a fair chance by the Rangers. It’s obvious he’s not a goal scorer, but if you give him a decent amount of playing time he’s good for 15 goals a season. He’s a speedy skater and a great penalty killer. He was with the Rangers for the past few weeks, but was scratched in most of the games, and when he was in the lineup he didn’t play much. He was playing extremely well in Hartford before he was called up.

There’s not much else to say except for it was a nice pickup by Montreal and I wish Johan the very best.

News and Notes: Derek Armstrong and Vitali Yeremeyev were recalled from Hartford yesterday. Armstrong will center the 3rd line tomorrow in Boston while it is unsure if Yeremeyev will play in any of the 2 games this weekend. Yeremeyev was on 48-hour recall, but he will likely stay with the team now as a roster spot is open because of Witehall’s departure.