Canucks' Etem faces Rangers hoping to make impact

NEW YORK -- Forward Emerson Etem was relatively ineffective in nine games at Madison Square Garden as a member of the New York Rangers this season before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on Jan. 8 for minor-league prospect Nicklas Jensen.

Etem returns Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SNP, MSG) hoping to make a bigger impact at the Garden, only this time for the visiting team.

"I'm starting to gain more confidence," Etem said, "and hopefully I can come in here and show the fans something."

Etem didn't show the Rangers much in the 19 games he played for them this season. He was a healthy scratch in 21 games, which was disappointing for the Rangers, who acquired Etem at the 2015 NHL Draft in a trade that sent left wing Carl Hagelin to the Anaheim Ducks.

The problem, as Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said the day after the trade, is Etem never quite seemed to fit in with the Rangers. Etem made it sound like he feels the same way.

"When you get 19 games, I think that's enough time to show what you got, and that's not including exhibition too," Etem said. "I definitely thought I got enough time. Obviously it didn't work out, but now I'm in a new situation and hopefully I have a better second half here."

Since the trade, Etem has gotten more ice time in a regular third-line role with the Canucks. He played 14:48 in a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and 14:46 in a 2-1 shootout win against the New York Islanders on Sunday.

"The second half is huge for me," Etem said. "I'm trying to gain momentum. I definitely have to prove something every shift."

Canucks coach Willie Desjardins, who also coached Etem in the Western Hockey League with the Medicine Hat Tigers, said he senses a hunger in the forward, a desire to prove he belongs as a regular in the NHL.

"I think he has a desire to be a good player and he wants to be a good player, but you don't show work ethic in a week," Desjardins said. "It's easy to be hungry for a week. It's can you be hungry for a month or six months? That's what remains to be seen."

The Rangers never saw it, which is why Etem returns to the Garden as a visitor on Tuesday.

"I think he'll play hard," Desjardins said. "I would think he'll be excited to be back to get a chance to play."

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