Replacing Jonny Brodzinski is about more than finding the next man up.
For the Rangers, the 13th forward spot has turned into a real roster problem this summer after Brodzinski left for the Washington Capitals in free agency. Over the past three seasons, he gave them exactly what that job is supposed to provide: stability, flexibility and a player who could slide in without much fuss whenever the lineup got disrupted.
Brodzinski averaged 55 games a season during that stretch, moving between center and wing and handling bottom-six duty most nights. When needed, he even bumped into a top-six role.
He posted a career-high 19 points twice and set a personal best with 12 goals in 2024-25. That kind of reliability is hard to replace, especially for a team trying to sort out its camp battles.
The Rangers will have to sort through three major factors before Opening Night: waivers, versatility and development.
Waivers could shape the decision more than anything else. Once a player loses waiver exemption, the Rangers can’t just send him to Hartford.
He has to clear first, and that introduces real risk. Matt Rempe, Tye Kartye and Taylor Raddysh are all waiver-eligible this season, though Kartye is not really part of this particular conversation after establishing himself as a steady middle-six option.
Rempe is the tricky one. If he doesn’t win a regular fourth-line job, the Rangers may feel pressured to keep him as the extra forward rather than expose him to waivers and risk losing him. That could squeeze out a waiver-exempt player such as Jaroslav Chmelar or Adam Sykora, since it would be easier to assign them to the minors than take the chance with Rempe or Raddysh.
New York has already seen how that can backfire. The Rangers claimed Kartye from Seattle in February when the Kraken tried to send him down, and he quickly became a sparkplug in New York’s lineup.
That same danger doesn’t apply to Chmelar and Sykora. It also doesn’t apply to newly acquired prospects Liam Greentree and Cole Beaudoin, though either one would need a camp surge similar to Noah Laba’s last year to seriously enter the picture.
Versatility is the next piece. Last season, the Rangers at times dressed five natural centers: Mika Zibanejad, J.T.
Miller, Vincent Trocheck, Laba and Brodzinski. With Trocheck and Brodzinski gone, that depth is thinner now.
Right now, Zibanejad, Miller, Laba and Joe Veleno look like the club’s best center options.
An extra forward who can move between center and wing still matters, even if it isn’t a strict requirement. Veteran Justin Dowling fits that description.
He’s 35, has NHL experience at both spots and appears headed back to Hartford, though he could stay if the Rangers want a reserve who can handle center. And, as with last season, he’d be only a phone call away if the team needs him.
Beaudoin is a center too, but he’d need to earn a regular lineup spot to open the season in New York. Rempe has played center in junior and in Hartford, though that’s not his comfortable NHL position. Raddysh, Sykora and Chmelar are wings.
Then there’s the development angle, and this is where the shortened preseason matters. The Rangers have only four preseason games this year, not six, and they’re packed into a five-day stretch. Beyond the Rookie Series against Philadelphia on Sept. 12-13, the camp calendar moves fast for any young player trying to force the issue.
Laba gave the Rangers a model for how quickly that can happen. He stood out in the Rookie Series with an assist in the opener and a goal in the second game, a 5-2 win. He carried that into the preseason, led the Rangers with five points in five games and earned the opening-night job as the third-line center.
Greentree and Beaudoin would likely need that kind of jump to break through early. Chmelar and Sykora are already in the mix for bottom-six roles, but another strong camp from one of the other prospects could make the decision even tougher.
Still, the Rangers also have to think beyond simply getting a young player on the roster. If Greentree, Beaudoin or even Sykora were to make the team only to sit on the fourth line or end up as a healthy scratch, that may not help them much. In Hartford, they could play far more, touch the puck more often and keep developing in a bigger role.
Sykora, who turns 22 in September, already showed what that can look like in the AHL. He finished third on the Wolf Pack with 29 points in 62 games last season, added penalty-killing work and led the team with three short-handed goals. He also scored three goals in 11 games with the Rangers.
Chmelar had a productive year in Hartford too, playing top-six minutes and putting up 25 points, including eight goals and 17 assists, in 46 games. He finished well with the Rangers and totaled four goals and six points in 28 NHL games.
Either one could win a bottom-six spot out of camp, and maybe both will be in the conversation. But as things stand, the 13th-forward role doesn’t look like the right fit for either of them.
Beaudoin could have a shot at playing 1C for the Wolf Pack while seeing power-play and penalty-kill time this season. Greentree would likely land in a top-six role and get the kind of minutes that actually help a young player grow.
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