To objectively look at last night’s results, you have to look at it from two separate games: The one where Igor Shesterkin was in net, and the one where Talyn Boyko was in net. It seems harsh, but it’s a necessity. For half the game, the Rangers looked great. They were making plays, scoring goals, defending, and getting saves from their clear cut franchise goalie. The other half got sloppy, chaotic, and goals against with the Rangers’ 6th string goaltender in net. It’s preseason so there isn’t much to worry about in the grand scheme of things.
Last recap I went in a more positive light, but for this one we’re going to focus on who the Rangers should cut bait while they can before they make bad managerial decisions. It’s a necessary part of the preseason discussion, to wittle down the field so the NHL team can be prepared for the season.
Matthew Robertson, thanks to a bad read in overtime, allowed Nikita Zadorov to get behind him on a breakaway and the game winning goal against. Robertson was a highly ranked prospect in his draft year, but he simply hasn’t taken the next steps to be an NHL defenseman. At 24 years old, another year in Hartford isn’t going to do much unless he’s a late bloomer. His NHL future, if there is one, is certainly not going to be in New York.
I don’t want to spend much time on Talyn Boyko, who is probably at the bottom of the goalie depth chart. Dylan Garand and Callum Tung are clearly ahead of him, so it’s whether he can beat out Hugo Ollas for the ECHL starting gig. He, like Robertson and Brendan Brisson (below), won’t be spending any time in a Rangers jersey this season.
The conspiracy theorists in us think that Brisson was brought to the Rangers to lure at least one of Pat Brisson’s clients (Eichel, Jack) to the Rangers this coming offseason. There’s no proving or disproving it, but it’s still a fun theory. Doesn’t matter though, since Brendan was essentially the new Jake Leschyshyn last night, running cardio out there not doing much else.
The same could also be said for PTO signee Andrej Sustr, who appears to just be a body until Braden Schneider is ready. Justin Dowling, a journeyman forward who will probably be one of Hartford’s better players, won’t be blocking a roster spot in the NHL.
And now for the biggest disappointment thus far: Brennan Othmann. I just do not see the “wow” factor from him like we do from Gabe Perreault, Noah Laba, and even Brett Berard. It’s been well documented that players in the 2020 and 2021 drafts have had rare stunts in development. The draft rankings were also a bit more unreliable than in past years. For whatever reason, Othmann can’t seem to get to open areas of the ice against the NHL talent. He’s a mid 1st round draft pick, so it’d be disingenuous to label him as a bust, but if you are comparing apples to apples, 1st round pick to 1st round pick wingers, I’m taking Perreault ten times out of ten.
We will have to see what the coaching staff decides to do with Othmann, but there’s going to be some difficult decisions coming down the line with so many good middle-six options to ice a hockey team. Othmann should get a longer look to see if he just needs to shake off more rust, but this appears to be a make or break year for him, and he’s not stepping up.
There’s a bit more time in camp and preseason for players on the cusp to show they belong. Othmann should probably get a longer look given his current situation, but he’s not showing he’s ready. But that’s why they play the games, after all.
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