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Rangers open pre-season against the Islanders on Monday

September 17, 2017, 11:03 AM ET [150 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I will post my top-five preseason questions in the next day or so but with hockey starting tomorrow night, posting this first. New York kicks off the first of six preseason games Monday against the Islanders. Some interesting names suiting up for the first game, in line with AV's comments on making decisions early on in camp.

Forwards for pre-season game tomorrow:




Lines:
Carey-Miller-Nash
Grabner-Andersson-Buchnevich
Farnham-Nieves-Lettieri
Schneider-Desjardins-Fontaine

Miller gets his first chance to show he can make that transition from winger to center and skates alongside Nash. Andersson may get the best initial set up, skating between Grabner and Buchnevich, who looks off last year and show the off-ice work he has done paid dividends. Nieves is in a battle to make the roster, same with Lettieri while Farnham attempts to fill the Tanner Glass or Ryan Reaves role. Desjardins gets his first chance to prove he belongs on the team and in the lineup, but he has an uphill battle. Carey and Schneider have excelled in the AHL but never translated that success to the NHL level. A strong showing in camp could impact someone like Matt Puempel.

Defense and goalies for pre-season game tomorrow:




Pairings:
McDonagh-Pionk
Holden-D'Angelo
Kampfer-Graves

Many interesting names to watch. Other than McD, each is vying for something and trying to prove they belong. Pionk was likely the best d-man at Traverse City, if not him, Bobby Crawley. He will get every chance to show he belongs in the lineup from Day 1. Holden, like Staal, is batting for a roster spot due to the blue line depth. AdA has had an uneven career to date. He somewhat wipes the slate clean in his arrival in NY. Offensively, we know he should be fine, defensively is the question. A strong camp could result in changes on the blue line. Graves may be behind several other blue liners but gives the Rangers options as a possible replacement or trade chip. His offense has always been ahead of defense. Kampfer is a seventh defenseman at best who has shown the ability to step into the lineup when needed. That's the role he will play this year again.

Pavelec
Halverson

Pavelec will need to prove that his uneven play in Winnipeg was a result of the talent around him and not his deficiencies. Benoit Allaire has his work cut out for him. If Pavelec proves capable, that allows Alain Vigneault to rest Henrik Lundqvist liberally and not overwork him.

Halverson saw his prospect status decline the last few years. He is likely behind Igor Shestyorkin, Chris Nell and Tyler Wall, possibly even Alexander Georgiev. A good season could put him in line to back up Hank, but he has competition and is no longer thought of as the goalie of the future.

Comments after Day 2 of Training Camp:




In practice yesterday, New York worker on their systems, specifically defensive-zone and net-front coverage. Vigneault said though the club would incorporate some overall modifications into its game, the D-zone theory had not changed. I sure as heck hope that the lessons learned included what not to do, as we saw in the playoffs last year. Repeating those same mistakes is what capsized the season, along with the poor player and pairing deployment.
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