Opening week. That chill in the air this weekend in New York is a signal that fall is clearly here, which means hockey is about to truly start. The preliminary games for the Rangers are over and preparation for the regular season is fully underway.

While the team was set Friday, many of us believe that changes are inevitable. The forwards look fairly formidable and deep. Hank should be Hank. But the defense, unless the preseason was a way of lulling teams to sleep, could be a tire fire.

New York got down to 24 players by placing Tanner Glass and Nathan Gerbe on waivers. Neither move came as a big surprise. Glass is in the final year of his three-year contract that carries a $1.45 million annual salary-cap hit. Of that $1.45 million, approximately $550k will remain on the Rangers cap; the amount in excess of the $900k max for a player sent to the minors. Glass not getting claimed came as little shock to us.

Gerbe not getting claimed was a mild surprise. The diminutive forward signed a one-year, $600,000 deal as a free agent this summer but was squeezed out by a numbers crunch. His salary and potential role as a third or fourth line forward had me thinking he might have been claimed. But the opt out clause he has to play in Switzerland might have resulted in him passing through.

While the team is at 24 players now, that may not last long. Oscar Lindberg is recovering from offseason hip surgery, but he practiced fully in a non-contact jersey. He will open the year on IR but may be ready sooner that the early November timeline given after the surgery. It's that possibility that may result in a another small move before Thursday.

Josh Jooris, who battled a groin injury through most of training camp and played in one preseason game, was among the 24 coach Alain Vigneault decided to keep. But the quote below leads one to believe that his stint on the parent club, at least initially, may be a short one.

“I’ve seen him in one game and a couple practices. So we decided to keep him a couple extra days and we’ll see how things unfold,” Vigneault said. “The answer is no, I haven’t seen enough.” That's far from a ringing endorsement. Lindberg looms but the biggest threat to Jooris' spot right now is likely Boo Nieves. Despite missing almost all of training camp due to an upper body injury suffered at Traverse City, Nieves made a solid impression in the final preseason game. His size, speed and penalty killing ability could result in him starting the season with the Rangers or rejoining them soon. Nieves played both games for Hartford this weekend, and if AV still hasn't seen enough from Jooris, a swap will be forthcoming.

As Larry Brooks wrote, Vigneault had all eight defensemen at practice, and he paired Ryan McDonagh with Dan Girardi and Marc Staal with Kevin Klein for his top four. He then had a young third pair of Brady Skjei and Dylan McIlrath. The two newcomers, Nick Holden and Adam Clendening, skated together and looked like they would be the extras.

Just seeing McD and G listed as a pairing is enough to scare the holy heck out of all of us Rangers' fans. There are decisions AV makes that makes you scratch your head. Skjei has shown he can play the off side. McI, while not great in camp, has success last year playing with Keith Yandle. So why not try Skjei or McI with McD? Then mix and match. If it's Skjei, then move G to the third pairing, which is where he belongs. If it's McI, play Skjei with G, allowing Skjei speed and ability to recover to help make up for G'a deficiencies. I would suggest sitting G but that is unlikely to happen. Staal looked a bit better this camp, so maybe the extra time off did do him good, meaning that he gets a bit of a longer leash from me to start the season.

Holden and Clendening will get their chances. Though if Nieves comes up for Jooris and then Lindberg returns, someone will have to go and it likely will be a d-man. But McI and Clendening will have to pass through waivers to be sent down, neither of which is likely to occur. At that time, New York will have a decision to make. Right now, the big questions are how much will the house of cards defense collapse inward and how much will that cost the Rangers?

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