Wednesday, I gave my predictions as to who would get sent down as the Rangers were to reduce their roster to 24-25 players. Thursday, New York reduced the roster by seven players, getting down to 25. But the seven assigned were not what I predicted/hoped, as the decision was definitely influenced by who required waivers to be sent down to the minors. With the moves, along with Fast/Fogarty (INJ), & Desjardins (PTO), per Cap Friendly, the club now has $1.55M in projected cap space to start the year.
The Rangers assigned Ryan Graves, Vinni Lettieri, Boo Nieves, and Neal Pionk to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL). Matt Puempel was placed on waivers today at noon. The team has also released Bobby Farnham from his Professional Tryout (PTO). In addition, the Rangers have loaned Lias Andersson to Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
The Rangers have 25 players remaining in Training Camp. The roster breakdown is listed below:
Forwards (15): Pavel Buchnevich, Paul Carey, Filip Chytil, David Desharnais, Andrew Desjardins, Jesper Fast, Steven Fogarty*, Michael Grabner, Kevin Hayes, Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller, Rick Nash, Jimmy Vesey, Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello
Defensemen (8): Tony DeAngelo, Nick Holden, Steven Kampfer, Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Shattenkirk, Brady Skjei, Brendan Smith, Marc Staal
Goaltenders (2): Henrik Lundqvist, Ondrej Pavelec
Graves, Lettieri, Nieves, and Pionk all didn't require waivers to be sent down. Carey did, which may have contributed to his making the roster over those players. Of the 25 above, I expect Desjardins to be waived, and surprised that he hasn't been yet, as his two-game suspension ended against Philly on Tuesday. Fogarty will either land on IR or be sent down once he is healthy. Fast, if he will miss at least three weeks and 24 days, is to be placed on LTIR. If those three moves are made, New York will be at 12 forwards. Presuming all the above is true, why not keep Lettieri and have him play on the fourth line with Grabner and Desharnais? Maybe a deal is in the works, which drove the decision, but keeping Lettieri or Nieves to me made sense.
I have no issues with sending Andersson to Frolunda. He will play major minutes there, aiding his development and growth rather than minimal minutes in NY. Andersson can come back to the US once his European season ends, allowing him to end up in Hartford. You could argue that maybe he should have been to assigned to Hartford, but Frolunda is a good spot for him to grow and learn.
On the blue line, Pionk clearly deserved a spot. The same could maybe be said about Graves, but Pionk outplayed him and others. As I wrote yesterday and we have spoken about before, Staal's contract and NMC made keeping him all but a certainty. Holden won't be released for nothing, which solidifies his spot on the roster, not necessarily in the six-man lineup. ADA deserves a spot and wasn't getting exposed to waivers to go down. Kampfer is a decent 7/8 d-man and for now, could stay in NY if the team opts to go eight-deep. NY likely doesn't want to lose him to waivers, which may be why Pionk was sent down over him, as I noted above. Pionk should see top or second-pair duty in Hartford. We can argue till we are blue in the face over sitting Staal and Holden, and hope at least one is in the press box, but it appears as if all those complaints have fallen on deaf ears.
Lines in practice Thursday:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich Grabner-Hayes-Miller Nash-Chytil-Zuccarello Vesey-Desharnais-Carey
I would swap Grabner and Vesey.
Extras: Desjardins and Fast (Fogarty is injured)
McDonagh-Shattenkirk Skjei-Smith Staal-ADA
Extras: Holden and Kampfer
Let's see if this sticks