Photo: AP

The New York Rangers have traded 2003 first round pick Hugh Jessiman to the Nashville Predators for future considerations.

Rumors of his imminent departure started making the rounds in Hartford on Saturday, with his agent in attendance as he spent his second consecutive game in the press box as a healthy scratch. Last night he returned to the Wolf Pack line up, seemingly putting those rumors to rest. But with Glen Sather and a host of scouts in the house last night it would seem that it was perhaps his opportunity to try to make an impression on potential suitors. It wasn’t a particularly strong game for Hugh — or anyone else not named Miika Wiikman for that matter — but apparently he made enough of an impression to convince Nashville to wager “future considerations” for his services.

The lone 2003 first-rounder to have never played a game in the NHL, Jessiman suffered for the New York Rangers’ mistake of drafting him where they did (12th over all) throughout his time with the organization. A serious ankle injury, which caused him to miss most of his junior season at Dartmouth, and an unwise decision to leave college prematurely further stunted his development as a player. But the bottom line is, he never should have been drafted where he was to begin with, and that stigma wasn’t going to go away while he was part of the Rangers organization.

In truth, Jessiman is coming off his best professional season to date, in which he made the most progress of any of his previous years as a pro. If he continues to progress at the same pace this year, it’s not entirely unfeasible that he could end up as a role player in the NHL one day. It seems unlikely, but plenty of Hartford alumni (most recently, Dwight Helminen) have found homes in other organizations and eventually gotten a shot in the NHL. Regardless, seeing a first round pick on the fourth line was never going to be good enough for the demanding Ranger Faithful, and when you look at the Hartford roster, it becomes clear that there are numerous similar or better options for that role that won’t be forced to carry the same baggage.

By all accounts Jessiman was a good guy and a good teammate, and I wish him the best of luck in Milwaukee (or maybe — just maybe — in Nashville one day). For Jessiman’s comments on the trade, and his time in the Rangers organization, see Howlings.

A depleted Avangard Omsk line up was shut out by Darius Kasparitis and SKA St. Petersburg in Russia’s second city yesterday. The final score was 5-0, with former Philadelphia Flyer Robert Esche earning the first shutout the Hawks have suffered so far this season.

Omsk entered the game without three of their top six scorers, captain Alexander Svitov, assistant Anton Kuryanov, and, of course, Alexei Cherepanov, their top defenseman, Dmitri Ryabikin, back-up goaltender Alexander Fomichev and forward Igor Volkov. They suffered yet another blow when Jaromir Jagr was unable to return after the first period with what was termed “a minor muscle pull”. He played only 6:12 in 7 shifts. The team was already down by two goals when he left the game.

The club announced today that Svitov will require surgery to repair an injury to his shoulder. Kuryanov is recovering from a badly sprained knee, while Volkov is currently hospitalized and being treated for pneumonia. There is currently no timetable available for their returns. Fomichev and Ryabikin, who is recovering from a groin pull, are both expected back on November 11th, when KHL teams return to the ice after a break for international play.

In a game they had no business winning, the Hartford Wolf Pack defeated the Portland Pirates 3-2 in overtime in Hartford on Wednesday night.  Miika Wiikman, with 30 saves, earned his third consecutive first star designation and was the primary reason the Pack were able to post their third win in as many games.

The Wolf Pack got off to a good enough start, earning the first two power play opportunities of the game, including 47 seconds of 5-on-3 time, during which Portland goaltender Adam Dennis was forced to stop a breakaway on Hartford winger Dane Byers.  But, as they have so often in this young season, the Pack failed to convert on the man advantage, and then were whistled for the next three penalties.  Portland took advantage of the first, when Colin Murphy was able to put a shallow rebound off Chris Butler’s point shot between Wiikman’s legs to give the visitors the 1-0 lead.

The Pack killed the second two of the three penalties off, and at 14:52 of the first rookie Dale Weise got a stick on Vladimir Denisov’s point shot, slowing it to a crawl and handcuffing Dennis, who could only watch as it trickled past him into the net, knotting the score at one.  Greg Moore was credited with the secondary assist, one of two helpers he earned in the game.

Just over three minutes later rookie Justin Soryal gave the Pack the lead after Artem Anisimov spotted him coming off the bench on a line change.  Anisimov, deep in the right corner, fed Soryal as he crossed the blue line undetected.  Soryal was able to skate in to the top of the face off circle, were he whistled a snap shot over Dennis’ shoulder for his first professional goal.

That, basically, was the last positive thing the Pack did for the next 45 minutes of playing time.

In the second period, the Pack were soundly out-played by the Pirates, getting trapped in the defensive zone for long stretches of time, routinely losing races for the puck, taking too many penalties and spotting the Pirates an 11-3 advantage in shots, forcing Wiikman to make a number of quality saves.

The third period didn’t start much better, and, in fact, the Wolf Pack didn’t register a shot until after the 11 minute mark of the period, when they were awarded 1:24 of 5-on-3 power play time.  By that time they’d already surrendered their second power play goal of the game, after Bobby Sanguinetti took his second minor penalty of the game and 5 foot 6 inch Pirate rookie Nathan Gerbe was able to walk around Potter and in on Wiikman, tying the score on the man advantage.

Sanguinetti almost redeemed himself by drawing the next penalty, which turned into the two-man advantage 36 seconds later, but once again the Pack were unable to cash in, and the teams were headed to overtime.

Hartford finished the game 0 for 6 on the power play, giving them a season mark of 5 for 45 with the man advantage, or 11%.  The shot advantage in the third once again went to Portland, though by a somewhat more respectable 9-6 margin.

In the extra frame, following some sloppy, frustrating play on their own side of center ice, the Wolf Pack managed to set up in the Portland zone, and after a nice keep-in by Brian Fahey, Moore fed Byers in the left face off circle.  With plenty of time, Byers was able to wind up and fire a blistering slap shot past Dennis before the Portland goalie could even flinch, giving the Pack their improbable win.

For Fahey it was his first point as a member of the Wolf Pack.  Byers’ goal was his fourth in 8 games, giving him the team lead in goals.  Anisimov’s first period assist gave him 6 points in 8 games, tops on the team.

Video highlights are available from AHL Live.

Notes:

• Brandon Sugden missed the game after injuring his thumb in a fight with Kevin Westgarth on Saturday.
• Sugden’s absence allowed Hugh Jessiman to return to the line up after missing two games as a healthy scratch.
• Lauri Korpikoski, re-assigned to Hartford by the Rangers on Wednesday afternoon, did not dress.
• Rangers general manager Glen Sather attended the game.

Pack Scoring:
1. Weise (2) (Denisov, Moore) 14:52
1. Soryal (1) (Anisimov, Murray) 18:00
OT. Byers (4) (Moore, Fahey) 3:16

Lines:
Byers - Pyatt - Parenteau
Dupont - Anisimov -  Weise
Owens - Moore - Soryal
DiDiomete - Ouellette - Jessiman

Potter - Sanguinetti
Fahey - Denisov
Graham - Murray

Wiikman / Zaba

Three Stars:
1. Miika Wiikman
2. Dane Byers
3. Nathan Gerbe