As training camp and the preseason chug along, the forward competition is truly heating up with no clear answer on the structure of the bottom six. Even in today’s practice, the Rangers have 5 forward lines that could feasibly be NHL lines to start the season. The answers on defense are pretty much set, and as long as the Rangers remain injury free, they have an opportunity to make October an extended look for the forwards. This means the Rangers could break camp with 15 forwards.
Defense questions are mostly answered
The Rangers have the flexibility to carry 15 forwards at the start of the season because their defense questions are mostly answered. The only question was whether Scott Morrow would force the Rangers to keep him around. He hasn’t been turning heads, but he’s been fine enough and is probably an upgrade on Urho Vaakanainen in the long run.
The question on Morrow is whether he’s going to be good enough defensively, which is probably why the Rangers feel more comfortable sending him to Hartford (likely). Morrow would simply get more time to adjust while the Rangers figure out what’s going on in their bottom six.
Matthew Robertson and Connor Mackey, the only other defensemen in camp that may stick around after the Rangers make their next round of cuts, aren’t it. Mackey we know is more of an 8D, but it’s disappointing to see how far Robertson has fallen off since his draft year. Even second round picks are dart throws.
If the Rangers go with 15 forwards to start the season, then Morrow will be sent to Hartford. But have no fear, he will be back soon enough.
Rangers breaking camp with 15 forwards is a real possibility
Based on lines today and the way the Hartford coaching staff coached half of practice yesterday, it seems most of the forward decisions are made already. Noah Laba appears to be getting a longer look, and it’s much earned. He has outplayed every other forward contending for a spot, including Juuso Parssinen and Conor Sheary.
Among the kids, Brett Berard and Brennan Othmann are also getting longer looks, though Othmann really needs to step up his game. This is as expected, as the organization needs to make decisions on their respective futures with the Rangers. The only unexpected performance in camp thus far has been Laba, who is outstripping everyone.
This does mean Gabe Perreault and Dylan Roobroeck, despite looking strong in camp, are headed to Hartford, at least temporarily. We predicted this, simply because of all the other decisions looming.
Roster decision fallout
There is some fallout from this decision, and some of it will likely irk some of the fanbase. But remember, the lineup on opening night is never the lineup by Thanksgiving, let alone the end of the season.
- Assuming the Rangers take 15 forwards, it will include Sheary, Jonny Brodzinski, Juuso Parssinen, and Taylor Raddysh. None of the quartet is a must keep, and Raddysh is the best among them, with Sheary not far behind. There’s nothing stopping the Rangers from waiving them once more final roster decisions are made.
- Waivers exempt players are more likely to be sent to Hartford to start the season, which means Laba is still the most likely to be sent to Hartford after this extended look. This is the unfortunate nature of waivers, as it’s going to force a tougher decision by Mike Sullivan.
- None of the Sheary, Brodzinski, Parssinen, and Raddysh quartet are “must keep” players. They are good enough depth players that can be stopgaps to ensure the prospects aren’t rushed. That’s fine enough for now.
- We may see a trade of prospects, seemingly with Othmann involved given his camp and how others have passed him on the depth chart already. I wonder if Chris Drury looks to recoup draft picks with Othmann and/or Robertson.
- Perhaps the best fallout from this year’s camp is the first call ups this year are likely to be kids looking to prove themselves, and not veteran journeymen just filling a spot.
The Rangers breaking camp with 15 forwards isn’t a guarantee by any means. But it does seem to be a logical path given they have 9 forwards for, at most, 8 spots. This is a good problem for the Rangers to have.