While everyone’s focus is on the Washington Capitals, a couple other bits of news emerged over the last 24 hours.

Carl Hagelin, 22, has signed with the Rangers and will report to the Connecticut Whale on an ATO.  Hagelin tallied 18 goals and 31 assists in 44 games this season as a senior at the University of Michigan.  Hagelin’s time with the Wolverines came to an end when the team fell to Minnesota-Duluth in the title game on Saturday.  He will probably end up with the Whale next season as well, but for now he joins Dylan McIlrath and Andrew Yogan for the remainder of this season.  Yogan already has two goals in two games and McIlrath got into a fight in his first AHL game.  Of the three, Hagelin is the closest to joining the Rangers, and there’s an outside shot that he makes the team out of training camp.  Hagelin has a reputation for being a very strong two-way forward, and many are very excited about his potential.

Also, word emerged yesterday that the Rangers will begin the 2011-2012 season in Stockholm against the Los Angeles Kings on October 7^th.  The Rangers will also take on the Ducks on October 8^th.  New York opened the season overseas in 2008 and got off to a strong start, but as the season progressed there were rumblings that the early overseas trip threw the team off a bit.  Eventually, Tom Renney was fired and John Tortorella took over and led the team to the playoffs where the Rangers were defeated by the Washington Capitals in seven games.  Obviously the NHL is trying to display foreign players like Henrik Lundqvist and Mats Zuccarello, but this probably isn’t an ideal situation for the Rangers.