New York Rangers: Kreider’s turn on the right wing and roster moves

The New York Rangers going back to work tonight with their third exhibition game, this one in Newark against the New Jersey Devils.  Will it be Adam Fox vs Dougie Hamilton? Alexis Lafrenière  vs Jack Hughes?  Or will it be another lineup up hopefuls as we have seen in the first two games?  The Rangers made a number of roster moves on Thursday, trimming the number of players at camp to 34.  More on that later.

After a day off on Wednesday at the Rangers Golf Classic the team was back on the ice on Thursday for a practice.   The lines used in practice gave an indication of what to expect Friday night.  The surplus of left wingers is still an issue that is being tinkered with.

Lafrenière and Kreider swapping

It looks like the idea of Lafrenière playing the right wing is over.  Coach Gerard Gallant said as much on Thursday, saying it will be Chris Kreider playing the off wing. “Lafrenière’s a little more comfortable on the left side right now. He’s a young player so, we’ll give that a try and see.”

Kreider played the right wing for a few games last season and that didn’t work out well.  Gallant believes it could work, explaining “Kreider, with his speed and strength if he gets going down that right side and cuts and gets going with that shoulder, it’ll be pretty tough to stop him.”

He said that it was Kreider’s choice saying  “Krieds wants the opportunity on the right side too.  He’s a strong skater and I think he’ll get a lot of opportunities going down that right wing on his right side. ”

In the meantime, we may see Vitali Kravtsov on the right wing of Zibanejad and Kreider on Friday night.  That’s where he practiced on Thursday.    Gallant said to not read anything into that.   “Just giving it a look, that’s all.  Giving people different looks and different opportunities. See what goes.”

There were not clear indications of who would playing in New Jersey on Friday or Boston on Saturday.

Roster moves

The Rangers trimmed their training camp roster substantially.  They assigned center Justin Richards to the Hartford Wolf Pack and first round draft pick Brennan Othmann to the Flint Firebirds of the OHL.  Othmann had to return to junior hockey if he was not going to make the varsity.

A number of players were placed on waivers with the intent of sending them to Hartford.  None of them was a surprise.

• Tony Bitetto
• Jonny Brodzinski
• Tim Gettinger
• Anthony Greco
• Keith Kinkaid
• Ty Ronning

Teams have 24 hours to put in a waiver claim and the official filing time is 2pm EST.

There had been some speculation that Keith Kinkaid was the one Ranger they could possibly lose to a waivers claim, but there is no way that the Rangers will be carrying three goalies this season so they have to take the risk.   Anthony Greco and Ty Ronning didn’t see any exhibition game action and Tony Bitetto played in both games, scoring one goal.

The remaining roster

If the six players on waivers clear, they will be sent to Hartford.  That leaves 34 players still in training camp, fighting for 22 jobs.   Here’s who is left with the players guaranteed to stick in italics.

Forwards (18)

• Morgan Barron
• Sammy Blais
• Filip Chytil
• Will Cuylle
• Julien Gauthier
• Barclay Goodrow
• Dryden Hunt
• Kaapo Kakko
• Vitali Kravtsov
• Chris Kreider
• Alexis Lafrenière
• Greg McKegg
• Lauri Pajuniemi
• Artemi Panarin
• Ryan Reaves
• Kevin Rooney
• Ryan Strome
• Mika Zibanejad

Defense (12)

• Adam Fox
• Mason Geertsen
• Libor Hajek
• Zac Jones
• Ryan Lindgren
• Nils Lundkvist
• K’Andre Miller
• Patrik Nemeth
• Matthew Robertson
• Braden Schneider
• Jarred Tinordi
• Jacob Trouba

Goalies (4)

• Alexandar Georgiev
• Adam Huska
• Igor Shesterkin
• Tyler Wall

Considering that the team will start the season with 13 forwards and seven defensemen, it means six forwards are contending for one job and seven blueliners are contending for two spots.

Of the forwards, it’s likely that Will Cuylle is bound for juniors and Lauri Pajuniemi will get more seasoning in Hartford.  So, Morgan Barron, Dryden Hunt, Greg McKegg and Julien Gauthier are the contenders for the last roster spot at forward.  The only forward who doesn’t have to clear waivers is Barron.

The battle for the last two defense spots (one in the  top six)  is realistically between Braden Schneider, Nils Lundkvist, Zac Jones, Matthew Robertson and Libor Hajek.  Hajek, Jarred Tinordi and Mason Geertsen have to clear waivers to go to Hartford.

The risk of losing a player to a waivers claim will definitely be a factor when determining who will stay with the team.  That’s why it is likely that we will see Barron, Schneider, Robertson, and Lundkvist or Jones start the season in the AHL.  They will get more playing time in the minors as well.

Strome’s walk year

Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome are both in their walk years contractually.  Zibanejad has made it clear that he won’t be talking about his contract and will focus on playing.  Strome spoke about his situation on Thursday and  he gave the standard  response about his priorities.  “We’re all looking forward to taking the next step as a team…that’s my focus.”

Strome said that being in contract limbo is nothing new. “My longest contract was my entry level contract, so I’m used to what this is kind of like.”   He did talk about being here.  “I love being a Ranger, I think I fit in great here. I love the guys on this team. I care so much about those guys, whatever happens happens.”

But does he love the Rangers to take less money to remain in New York?   He’s coming off a two-year contract that paid him $9 million. For perspective, he was 14th in scoring among centers last season with 49 points.  57 centers have a contract with an Average Annual Value of more than Strome’s $4.5 million AAV.  That means there are 43 centers that Strome outscored who make  more money than he does.

If he has another similar season, as Strome said himself,  whatever happens happens.

Tonight’s game

The Rangers play the Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark at 7pm.  You can watch it locally on the MSG Network and nationally on the NHL Channel.  The broadcast team will be from the Devils, so be prepared for that.

Blue Line Station will have it’s live thread up during the game so feel free to join in and talk about the team and the game.