The New York Rangers’ roster trim ended with Vincent Iorio, but the defenseman isn’t going far.
After the preseason, the Rangers had to shuffle things to get down to a compliant 23-man roster for the 2026-27 regular season. Their last move before the opener against the Boston Bruins was to place Iorio on injured reserve, but just hours before puck drop, they changed course and put him on waivers instead to officially remove him from the roster.
That decision could have opened the door to a new team, but Iorio cleared waivers, according to Elliotte Friedman on X. Former Rangers forward Conor Sheary, who was waived by the Buffalo Sabres, also cleared.
For New York, that means Iorio is headed back to the Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL, where the defense group is shaping up nicely. Marc Del Gaizo, Urho Vaakanainen and Dennis Cholowski all cleared waivers as well, and Drew Fortescue, who made his NHL debut last season, will also be in that mix. Fortescue was waiver-exempt and not subject to being claimed.
Iorio has already bounced around quite a bit since the Washington Capitals took him in the second round, No. 55 overall, in the 2021 NHL Draft. He played nine regular-season games for Washington before going on waivers and being claimed by the San Jose Sharks on Oct. 16, 2025.
His stay with San Jose lasted a few months before he hit waivers again and was picked up by New York on Jan. 31, 2026. Between the two clubs, he appeared in 27 games during the 2025-26 season.
Over the summer, he signed a one-year deal to stay in the Rangers organization.
At the NHL level, Iorio has four career points, all assists. In the AHL, though, he has been a productive presence, helping the Hershey Bears win the Calder Cup Championship twice.
He also made an immediate impression with the San Jose Barracuda last season, piling up seven assists and a plus/minus of +7 in six games. That marked the third time in four AHL seasons that he finished with a positive plus/minus.
In Other News...
Igor Shesterkin May Finally Get The Rangers Support He Needs
Igor Shesterkins rebound last season was one of the more encouraging developments for the Rangers, especially after a down year and a return from injury had raised a few questions about where his game stood. The bigger picture around him also looks better now, because New York has added more help on the blue line, the kind of improvement that can make life easier on a goalie who has spent plenty of nights facing too much traffic.
For the Rangers, that matters because Shesterkin does not need to carry quite as much if the team defends with more structure in front of him. If he stays on this track and the Rangers get back to the playoffs, the conversation around him could quickly turn into award talk again, with another big season putting him right back among the leagues elite. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Opener Brought Back An Early Fear Fans Know Too Well
The Rangers opened their preseason against Boston with the kind of ragged, low-event look that can make a coach squirm, even if it is still September. Both Igor Shesterkin and Jeremy Swayman had plenty to do as skaters on each side coughed up the puck, and the game had that familiar feel of a team trying to find its rhythm after a shortened runway into camp.
New Yorks offense never really settled in, which only sharpened the concern about readiness and timing this early in the schedule. The preseason is supposed to be a chance to shake off rust and build toward opening night, but for the Rangers, the challenge right now is less about finishing chances than simply cleaning up the mistakes that kept Boston in control. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Near-Miss May Have Changed Chris Drurys Entire Blue Line Plan
The Rangers spent part of their offseason looking hard at Alexander Nikishin, a move that would have pointed their blue-line planning in a very different direction. Even after that path closed, the bigger picture in New York kept shifting, and the front office wound up reshaping the defense with a broader set of additions that better matched the urgency of a team trying to get back into playoff form quickly.
Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi gave the Rangers more of what they needed in the moment, while Alberts Smits and Pavel Dorofeyev added to the overall roster mix. In that sense, the failed Nikishin pursuit may have mattered less for what New York missed than for how it clarified the rest of Chris Drurys approach, turning a narrow target into a more complete reset of the back end. [Read more 🡒]