Defenseman sent for AHL tune-up with return to Rangers uncertain

Chris Drury was there in person to deliver the message, making it clear that these are organizational decisions when it comes to the development of the Rangers’ young players.

The assistant general manager was hanging just outside the visiting dressing room in Boston on Saturday night, following the Blueshirts’ 3-2 win over the Bruins. It was the team’s third win in a row, giving the players a much-needed morale boost going into the nine-day break that encompasses the bye week and All-Star weekend.

A contributing factor in those three wins was 20-year-old neophyte defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who made his NHL debut Tuesday against the Hurricanes and has seen nothing but victory in the best league in world. Yet Drury was the one to grab him at TD Garden and tell him while the rest of the Rangers went on vacation, he was going back down to AHL Hartford for the break so that he can get some game action and stay sharp.

As for coming back when the Rangers schedule resumes before the Jan. 29 Garden match against the Flyers, that seems to be assumed — but not a given.

“I’m not sure, just talking to Drury right now,” Lindgren said. “Just have to go down there, play well. They made sure to say [to] not think of this as something — they thought I played well. So just go back down there, play games, and see what happens.”

Lindgren has been a steady presence on the blue line, and has aptly taken to the pairing with veteran Kevin Shattenkirk. His ability to defend belies his 6-foot, 200-pound frame, and the competitiveness on every shift is what made him an attractive piece coming back in the deal that sent Rick Nash to Boston before last season’s trade deadline.

For Lindgren to also come up and play against the team that took him in the second round (No. 49 overall) in 2016 before he spent two years at the University of Minnesota was also special.

“It still means a lot,” Lindgren said. “The team that drafted me, a couple development camps with them. It’s pretty cool to come in here to play against them and get the win, too.”

Also joining Lindgren down with the Wolf Pack for this next week was center Boo Nieves, who has played his best NHL hockey during this 16-game stretch since he was called up on Dec. 15. He has two goals and seven assists, but is starting to use his speed in more situations than just from Point A to Point B. He is getting to the front of the net and forcing the opposition to defend him, just like he did when he split defenders and found Filip Chytil for the game-tying goal against the Islanders on Jan. 12 in Brooklyn.

Nieves is playing without the hesitation that could be expected after he suffered another concussion — one in a history of them — during the first preseason match this September. But he had 12 productive games with the Wolf Pack and regained his footing before getting the call up.

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Now it’s back down where another familiar face awaits — goalie Alexandar Georgiev. The club wasted no time sending the 23-year-old Bulgarian down on Friday so he could play in Saturday’s 3-0 home loss to Springfield, giving up two goals on 34 shots. Sunday’s game at Providence was postponed due to the weather and rescheduled for Monday afternoon, and there are three more games after that before the Rangers presumably return to practice on Jan. 27.

Georgiev is sure to play more often than he did during the first four months of the season, as Henrik Lundqvist played 32 of the first 39 games. The workload seemed to catch up to the 36-year-old netminder just after the New Year, and he backed up Georgeiv in four of six games before returning on Tuesday and winning the last three before the break.

Yet this break came at a good time, when rest was needed. That includes the two rookie forwards who have spent the whole year with the Rangers — Chytil, 19, and Brett Howden, 20. Coach David Quinn made it clear they would both benefit from recuperation rather than more hard hockey games down in the minors.

As the Feb. 25 trade deadline quickly approaches, the Rangers’ depth is only going to get lighter. Moving veteran pieces to get younger assets is part of the plan that works in concert with developing the young pieces already here.

The organization is looking towards what it hopes is a bright future, and while the big club rests, this is how it is trying to expedite that progress.