After a weekend of a disappointing loss in Jersey, followed by a fun evening of beating Boston twice, the Rangers have trimmed down the Rangers roster to just 26 names. The goalie duo of Tyler Wall and Adam Huska have been assigned to Hartford, where they will join Keith Kinkaid who was sent down earlier. Matthew Robertson didn't get dealt the best hand heading into camp as he battled injury, however he got his one game in against the Devils. With the crowded blue line on the varsity squad, Robertson will have a great opportunity to develop with the Wolf Pack, where plenty of eyes will stay on him.
Lauri Pajuniemi was a name that turned a lot of heads during camp, especially in the game against the Devils where he ripped a shot off the crossbar. He's certainly proven his talents and has a chance to be a great young player with the Wolf Pack in what will be his first, North American professional season. Braden Schneider gave Nils Lundkvist and Zac Jones a run for their money. His tough style of play proved he can compete with the big guys and he'll be another AHL rookie to keep an eye on this season. Similarly to Schneider, Will Cuylee had a great showing in his first camp and gave the organization some things to consider. Alas, he will return to his junior team and look to have another strong development year.
Greg McKegg's waiver assignment leaves us at 26. The gritty veteran had the odds stacked against him as far as competing for that fourth line center role, and even so for an extra forward gig. We know because the Rangers opted to protect Rooney there wasn't much debate on the fourth line center job. At this point in his career, "Kegger" might be more beneficial as a veteran presence in the AHL. Which leaves us with position battles in essentially two spots. One spot on the third D pair, and the extra forward positions.
On the back end it's between, Nils Lundkvist and Zac Jones. Yes, Libor Hajek is still there but it's pretty clear he'll be drawing the short end of the stick when it comes to piecing together the 23 man roster. I mentioned how Schneider was making a push for the spot that we're all assuming is Lundkvist's, Zac Jones is arguably on the bring of taking it. At the very least, he's making it an immensely difficult decision for Rangers management. For the forwards, it's Julien Gauthier, Dryden Hunt and Morgan Barron battling for the extra forward spots. It's likely Barron will go to Hartford and develop as a top six center.
Vitaly Kravtsov's injury is a minor wrench in the plans of defining that 23 man roster. He did skate this morning, and the hope is he will be good to go for Saturday. However, if he's still unavailable as we approach opening night, there's a chance all three of Gauthier, Hunt, and Barron make the team to start. The only alternative would be carrying eight defenseman which would maybe bring Hajek back into the conversation. Regardless, I stand by my early prediction of the final roster. I very much see Morgan Barron, being a top six AHL center, Zac Jones joining Braden Schneider on a potential top pairing , and Libor Hajek all joining the Wolf Pack down in Hartford.
With two preseason games left, we'll have a pretty strong idea of what to expect in both games and what opening night will look like. Sheshterkin will play the full game tonight and I'd say there's a solid chance of Georgiev getting the final game. As for the lines, this is how they look going into tonight's game.
Lafreniere - Zibanejad - Kreider
Panarin - Strome - Kakko
Goodrow - Chytil - Gauthier
Blais - Rooney - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Tinordi - Lundkvist
I would expect mostly the same line up for Saturday with Jones, Nemeth, Barron and Kravtsov if healthy all replacing some guys in the line up to get one last look. I really think the Rangers are going to have to cut their losses with Libor Hajek. Someone might take him on waivers and if so, I wish nothing but the best for him. Looking back, the return for JT Miller and Ryan McDonagh was atrocious but we've made up for it in other areas. We know where the job battles are and it'll be exciting to see how these last two games play out with an almost finalized roster.
Chris Feldman
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