Update: I added the video code from Sporting News, our video partner, to this post. However the video is blocked at work, so I can’t tell if the code is working or if the video fits on the screen. Can you guys let me know in the comments please?

The Rangers closed out the preseason with a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins, ending the preseason with a 4-1-1 record. Preseason records don’t necessarily mean much, but you can tell a lot about the Rangers from this preseason (which we will get to, I promise). The team will travel to West Point for some bonding before heading to Chicago to open the season. Here are the bullet points from last night’s game.

  • Dylan McIlrath better make this team, and he better play. He’s certainly earned it. As I’ve said, and as everyone who writes for this blog has said, if he can do what Klein does, at $2.3 million less, then it’s a no-brainer. We already know he can do what Tanner Glass does.
  • Speaking of Klein and Glass, I know I only caught the last two periods, but I didn’t really notice them that much. I could be biased though since I am specifically watching for McIlrath.
  • There was one play that I saw from Raphael Diaz that stuck with me. The puck was behind the Rangers net late in the first with the Bruins pressuring. Diaz lost his balance, but was able to dive and get the puck across to Dan Girardi. It was one of those solid plays that went unnoticed.
  • As for Diaz’s game, I thought he was solid. Good puck decisions. Moved the puck well on the powerplay. Made a few miscues positionally in his own end, but nothing that would be deemed glaring.
  • Viktor Stalberg and J.T. Miller went straight to the net for the Stalberg goal (the Ryan McDonagh shot). Good to see someone other than Chris Kreider in front.

  • Speaking of Miller, that was a nifty toe-drag that led to his goal, and he did it on someone who is a top-four defenseman on the Bruins (Adam McQuaid). It’s such a subtle move, but it changed the angle enough that he was able to sneak it through. That’s what top-six guys do: They change the angle and have a quick release. Miller should be getting a shot in the top-six. He’s going to make mistakes, like the giveaway in the third. Everyone makes mistakes.
  • I find it very hard to judge Emerson Etem if he’s not playing with guys who can create offensively. Putting him with Jarret Stoll and Tanner Glass is not the best use of your asset there. It could be a method of helping Etem learn his DZ coverages, but I honestly think the best way for him to succeed is with sheltered OZ starts.
  • Is it me, or was the Klein-Marc Staal pairing pinned in their zone a lot? Neither is proficient at moving the play up the ice, that part we know.
  • I got asked who the Rangers would cut if they keep Glass. The answer is Stoll.
  • Everyone always says the Rangers don’t have a good farm system. But yet they always have a rookie making an impact. Oscar Lindberg and Dylan McIlrath this year. Possibly Brady Skjei. J.T. Miller last year. Chris Kreider and Cam Talbot the year before. They don’t have the elite talent that other systems have, but they constantly churn out solid NHL players.
  • I like 3-on-3 overtime. Games end. Less shootouts. Lots of skill. Not the perfect solution for the shootout, but better. Need to eliminate that whole loser point thing though.

That’s it folks. Two more cuts are coming before the season opener in Chicago next Wednesday. One week until regular season hockey folks. You excited?

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