David Quinn may have, in fact, been “told differently.”
A few hours after the coach said he planned to play trade chips Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes and Adam McQuaid on Thursday night at the Garden “until I’m told differently,” the Rangers may have tipped their hand by calling up Lias Andersson from AHL Hartford.
The arrival of Andersson gives the Rangers 13 healthy forwards and eight healthy defensemen, meaning Quinn could roll out a lineup of 11 forwards and seven defensemen while scratching Zuccarello, Hayes and McQuaid to protect them from injury.
“Until I’m told differently, we’re going to play those guys,” Quinn had said after Zuccarello, Hayes and McQuaid were all on the ice for the team’s morning skate. “We’re going to put the best lineup we can tonight and march forward, until I’m told differently.”
The Rangers have three games left before Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline — home Thursday and Saturday and at Washington on Sunday — by which Zuccarello and Hayes are expected to be traded, with McQuaid and others potentially on the move as well.
Zuccarello and Hayes are both pending free agents, and with extension talks going nowhere, per The Post’s Larry Brooks, they are likely in their final days as Rangers.