The Rangers’ rookie camp is only a day old, but the first real test comes fast. After Friday’s practice, New York’s prospects are headed to Allentown, Pennsylvania, for a pair of rookie games against the Flyers at PPL Center - Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m.
That annual setup has become a familiar checkpoint before training camp opens, and this year’s Rangers group is a big one. New York has 26 players on the rookie roster, with all but two coming from the draft or the organization’s signed prospect pool. The only exceptions are two unsigned camp invitees.
A handful of those players already have some NHL time on their résumés. Adam Sykora, now entering his fourth pro season, appeared in 11 games with the Rangers in 2025-26. Drew Fortescue also got a taste of the league, playing nine games at the end of last season after wrapping up his junior year at Boston College.
Philadelphia’s side brings even more NHL mileage into the weekend. The Flyers have six players on their rookie roster with NHL experience: forwards Porter Martone, Denver Barkley, Alex Bump and Jett Luchanko, along with defensemen Oliver Bonk and Ty Murchison.
For the Rangers, one of the biggest draws is how many first-time faces will be on the ice in game action. Six of the nine players they picked in this year’s draft are set to appear, led by Alberts Smits, the No. 5 overall selection. The 18-year-old defenseman is New York’s top prospect, and he’ll be hard to miss.
There are other fresh additions worth tracking too. Center Cole Beaudoin and forwards Liam Greentree and Jacob Battaglia are all making their organizational debuts after being acquired in separate trades over the last several months. Each is set to turn pro this season after strong OHL careers.
Nathan Aspinall is not new to the rookie-game environment or the organization, but he is another forward stepping into pro hockey after a productive junior run. The 2024 fifth-round pick finished second in OHL scoring last season with 94 points.
Behind the bench, the Rangers are also getting a first look at Jay Leach in their own colors. Hired this offseason to coach the Hartford Wolf Pack, Leach is handling rookie camp practices and will coach the club this weekend.
He’s far from a newcomer to the job. Leach spent the last two seasons as an assistant with the Boston Bruins, had the same role with the Seattle Kraken before that, and also coached Providence in the AHL. As a player, he was a longtime minor-league defenseman who logged 70 NHL games.
That means this weekend gives Leach an early read on several players he’ll likely be around all season in Hartford. That group includes Wolf Pack returnees Dylan Roobroeck, Bryce McConnell-Barker, Carey Terrance and Jackson Dorrington, along with Beaudoin, Greentree, Aspinall, and possibly Sykora and Fortescue too.
Goaltending is another area worth watching, if only because the pool is so thin. Callum Tung is the most experienced of the two goalies on the rookie roster. The former UConn standout signed with the Rangers as an undrafted free agent in 2025 and split last season between Hartford, where he played 16 games, and Bloomington of the ECHL, where he played 19.
The results were mixed, but the Rangers would like to see the 22-year-old take a meaningful step forward. With Dylan Garand and Spencer Martin projected as the top two in Hartford, Tung appears likely to begin this season back in the ECHL.
The other goalie is 2026 third-round pick Danai Shaiikov. The 19-year-old Russia-born netminder is entering his second season with Quebec of the QMJHL, and he’ll likely start one of the two games in Allentown.
There’s also a pair of offensive prospects who stand out for different reasons. Artem Gonchar put up 51 points last season - 15 goals and 26 assists - to rank ninth among OHL defensemen, doing it for a weak Sudbury team.
He’s listed at 6-foot-0 and 156 pounds, and while he doesn’t stand out for his work in his own end, his vision, passing touch and shot give him real appeal. He also happens to be the nephew of former NHL star and Stanley Cup champion Sergei Gonchar.
The catch: Gonchar may not be available this weekend after not being cleared to practice Friday. Because of that, the Rangers added defenseman William Trudeau to the rookie roster. Trudeau came over from the Montreal Canadiens in the Brett Berard trade this summer.
Up front, Tomas Chrenko might be the most skilled player in the Rangers’ system. The 18-year-old third-round pick from this year’s draft held his own against grown men in the Slovak professional league last season and was a force at the 2026 World Junior Championship, where he scored five goals and finished with six points.
Chrenko said he’s going back home to play for Nitra again this season, though there’s still a chance he could stay in North America and suit up for Muskegon of the USHL or Kitchener in the OHL.
And then there’s Porter Martone, who isn’t a Rangers prospect but is the name that jumps off the page in this matchup. The Flyers took the 19-year-old winger No. 6 overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, and he’s already being mentioned as a Calder Trophy favorite.
The Rangers are not only going to see him this weekend - they’re going to be dealing with him for a long time. Martone had 10 points, with four goals and six assists, in nine NHL games last season after a 50-point freshman year at Michigan State, where he scored 25 goals and added 25 assists in 35 games. He also chipped in five points, including two goals and three assists, in 10 Stanley Cup Playoff games for Philadelphia this spring.
He’s the player everyone in Allentown will be watching.
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Cuylles situation, though, comes with the usual New York complications. The Rangers are still sorting out a roster that needs both flexibility and impact, and any extension discussion has to fit into a cap picture that leaves little room for easy moves. Even so, the broader lesson is hard to ignore. Teams that want to build around homegrown talent usually have to act before the price climbs too far, and the Rangers may now have a blueprint worth studying if they want to keep Cuylle in place for the long haul. [Read more 🡒]