Following Saturday's game, the Rangers trimmed the roster as expected. No real surprises were in the demotions or those exposed to waivers, leaving the team with 26 players. Of the 26, 25 are in Rhode Island, as the team is practicing and conducting group activities there with Vitali Kravtsov - injured in Friday's game - remaining back in New York. Unsure why he couldn't have traveled with the squad and received treatment in Rhode Island to participate in the team bonding endeavor. To me, that's a little bit of a fail, especially for a player who in the past has felt somewhat disconnected.
Rangers assign Will Cuylle to his junior team, Windsor (OHL), and Matthew Robertson, Braden Schneider, Lauri Pajuniemi, Tyler Wall and Adam Huska to Hartford (AHL). Camp roster now at 27. #NYR pic.twitter.com/8PogEEK51s
— Rick Carpiniello (@RickCarpiniello) October 3, 2021
OFFICIAL: #NYR have assigned forward Greg McKegg to @WolfPackAHL. The Rangers have 26 players remaining in training camp.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) October 4, 2021
Full details https://t.co/RFtPwvxaLh
Practice Lines Monday:
#NYR practice lines:
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) October 4, 2021
Lafreniere-Zibanejad-Kreider
Panarin-Strome-Kakko
Goodrow-Chytil-Gauthier
Blais-Rooney-Reaves
Hunt-Barron-Hajek
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Nemeth-Lundkvist
Jones-Tinordi
Shesterkin
Georgiev
With Kravtsov sidelined, Julien Gauthier, who had a strong weekend, moved into his spot on the third line. Libor Hajek skated on the fourth line so that the duo became a trio. Placing him there is fairly good evidence he is on the bubble and likely will at best be press box material, as the Rangers likely don't want to try and pass him through waivers to be sent down, expecting him to be claimed. Dryden Hunt, as I wrote the other day, will also require to be passed through waivers, so I view him right now as the 13th forward, if Kravtsov's injury forces him to miss Opening Night. If Kravtsov can play, Gauthier and Hunt are the two extras with the team carrying 14 up front. In that scenario, Morgan Barron goes down to Hartford and see first line center duty.
Gallant on Jones and Lundkvist:
Gallant on the competition between Lundkvist & Jones:
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) October 4, 2021
“They’re close (in the competition). They’re both good young players. We pretty well know our top 5 guys, but there’s a spot available and we’ll see what’s going to happen with it. … It’s going to be a tough decision.… #NYR
The top-five blueliners are pretty much set in stone. The seventh will be Hajek or Jarred Tinordi. What remains up for grabs is the sixth d-man, Nils Lundkvist entered camp as the prohibitive favorite for the role. He really has done nothing to lose that status, but Zac Jones has been impressive, continuing the run that began last year at UMass.
As the NY Post noted, there is a scenario in which the Rangers could send Lundkvist to AHL Hartford to get acclimated to the North American game and keep Jones. Both Jones and Nemeth said Monday that they don’t have a preference for which side they play on, citing experience on the left and right sides. Unsure there is a wrong answer here, but as good as Jones has been, I would likely go with Lundkvist for the third pair, unless he falters the next two games or Jones forces his way onto the roster.
Power Play The first unit at practice Monday featured four righties in Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad, Ryan Strome and Artemi Panarin, with Chris Kreider at the net-front as the lone left-handed player. If that looks familiar, it should be, as this was what we saw last year for a good portion of the time. In addition, at times, the team went all rightly on the man-advantage. We have spoken about the need for better balance and maybe going three and two, but it looks like a pipedream.
Alexis Lafrenière, Kaapo Kakko, Filip Chytil and Sammy Blais (net-front) skated as the second unit, with Lundkvist and Jacob Trouba rotating at the point. If Jones makes the team over Lundkvist, he could receive power-play time. Plus, Kravtsov might be an option here when he is in the lineup, potentially replacing Blais or Kakko.
Congrats to Zib on one being one of first three named to Sweden's Olympic Team
Team Sweden 🇸🇪 has named Victor Hedman, Mika Zibanejad and Gabriel Landeskog as the first three members of their 2022 Olympic roster. pic.twitter.com/qRKUAmKPKq
— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) October 4, 2021