Rangers Preseason Recap: Battle of the Hudson Take 2

After a pretty vanilla game overall the other day in Newark, the Rangers made multiple cuts to their roster and iced a much more NHL heavy roster last night. This time, they looked much more like the New York Rangers we know, even if they were still playing basically the Utica Comets. Despite the mismatch on paper, this was a fairly entertaining preseason tilt.

As we inch closer and closer to the start of the regular season, we are seeing a decent amount of young players vying for a shot to break camp. The Rangers may not have elite talent in the farm, but they have a solid group of players who can be middle six and/or top six players. There are no Artemi Panarin’s, but there are plenty of Chris Kreider’s, if that makes sense.

One player that flew under the radar until recently has been Victor Mancini, who added a goal last night. Not known for his offensive contributions and rather his steady play off the puck, has shown he can get the puck on net and has some pretty solid offensive instincts.

Poise is a very cliché when discussing prospects taking the next step, but we are seeing Mancini’s poise with and without the puck that bodes well for the future. He doesn’t panic with the puck, he doesn’t take himself out of position, and he can find the shooting lanes. Mancini has earned a temporary spot at the NHL level until Lindgren is healthy.

This is also the case for Adam Edstrom, who has just been lighting goalies up since the start of the prospects tournament. A heavy forechecker with speed–speed that shouldn’t be possible for a legal giant–who makes great reads, Edstrom has shown that poise with and without the puck. Like Mancini, Edstrom isn’t going to be a regular on the score sheet, but he should be able to chip in 10-15 goals in a bottom six role, really rounding out the bottom half of the roster.

Edstrom and Mancini have stolen the show from Brennan Othmann, who has played all 5 preseason games thus far. He’s had flashes of brilliance, though there is something lacking from his game at the moment. Given how well Edstrom has played, it seems Othmann may be AHL bound to start the season after many penciled him into a top-nine role to start the season.

Othmann likely just needs a little more time to fine tune his game, which is fine. The kid only has one professional season under his belt. However, we are also entering potential trade bait territory with Othmann, given the wing depth in the system. This doesn’t mean Othmann is a bust, but his timeline may not fit with the Rangers goals. That’s fine, and admittedly likely getting ahead of myself here. Sometimes, a guy just needs a little more time to cook in the AHL before he’s ready.