The first preseason game did not offer much mystery for the Rangers, but it did deliver a few reminders about where things stand.
New York opened exhibition play against the Devils with a lineup that looked far closer to a Wolf Pack group than a true NHL dress rehearsal, and the result showed it. Even with New Jersey icing the bigger club, the Devils escaped with a one-goal win in the waning minutes against a minor league roster.
One thing was easy to notice right away: the blue helmets with the road white jerseys work. They should keep them.
As for the roster picture, there were only four, maybe five players on the ice who still had even an outside chance of forcing their way into the team’s plans. Based on the practice groups from the first few days of camp, the competition already looks close to settled, with the Rangers and Hartford Wolf Pack rosters appearing to line up in those groups.
Adam Sykora deserved an honorable mention, even if he never really looked like a serious candidate to break camp with the Rangers. Because he can be sent to Hartford on waivers, his odds were already slim, and they took a hit after he appeared to hurt his right knee on a hit.
Vincent Iorio also gets a mention. With the Rangers’ revamped blue line and the first two pairs already set, plus Alberts Smits looking increasingly like a camp winner based on the practice rosters, there was never much room for Iorio. He exited with a lower-body injury, but before that he made a play worth remembering, firing a beautiful pass to Timo Meier for a goal.
Matt Rempe, meanwhile, was fine. He has been a limited but real point of interest because of what his size can do, especially in dump-and-chase situations when opposing defensemen don’t want to see a 6-9, 254-pound body coming at them. The issue is simpler than that now: the Rangers have better fourth-line options than Rempe.
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Rangers Opener Brought One Bigger Concern Than The Final Score
The Rangers preseason opener ended with a 3-2 loss to the Devils, but the final score was only part of the concern. New Jersey got the winner late in the third period from Jack Hughes and controlled the shot count 31-18, while the Rangers spent much of the night trying to find their footing in a game that had the feel of an early test more than a finished product.
Adam Sykoras night ended early with a lower-body injury, and there was more unease afterward when Vincent Iorio was also being evaluated postgame. For a team still sorting out its depth and lineup options this time of year, those are the kinds of details that can matter more than a September result, especially with the season still weeks away and the injury picture not yet fully clear. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Suddenly Have A Goalie Decision They Can't Easily Dodge
Dylan Garand got the first long look of the preseason for the Rangers, and he made it count in the most basic way a young goalie can. He handled the entire opener against the Devils and stopped 28 shots in a 3-2 loss, giving the club a clean early look at a netminder it has been developing while the bigger roster decisions around him begin to sharpen.
Now the issue is no longer just about one preseason outing, but about how New York sorts out its goaltending depth behind Igor Shesterkin. The offseason addition of Joonas Korpisalo complicates the picture, and the Rangers have to decide whether Garand is ready to stay in the fold or whether the risk of putting him on waivers changes the math. Garand, for his part, is focused on controlling what he can and competing, while the organization keeps weighing the present against what it wants that position to look like going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Preseason Debut Puts New Faces Under Immediate Pressure
The Rangers are wasting no time giving their new-look roster a real test in preseason action against the Islanders, and the first lineup of the fall already says plenty about where the pressure points are. Top-six forwards are in the mix, the full defense group is dressed, and Igor Shesterkin is in goal, a clear sign the club wants a close look at how its regular pieces and newcomers fit together before the games start counting.
Several players will get their first crack in a Rangers sweater, including Pavel Dorofeyev, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen, while the rest of the lineup offers an early glimpse at how the coaching staff is sorting through combinations. There are still roster spots up for grabs, especially among the forwards, and the battle for those final openings is already underway with the preseason barely beginning. [Read more 🡒]