Club focused on rebound after first round defeat
Well it has been an eventful offseason for the Rangers, as is the case for all teams when it is an offseason involving the draft. The Rangers had more selections in this 2017 draft, than they have ever had previously, in any other draft, but we will talk about the draft at another time.
For the immediate future, the Rangers made a few moves, but nothing earth shattering. The Rangers will return next season with the same top 6 forward group, the same top 4 dmen, and the same starting goalie. It was the bottom 6 and the bottom pairing that received some tinkering, after the Rangers were eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs last season.
The Rangers first moves off the offseason saw them shore up the backup goaltender position, which is essentially a door opener, in Jeff Glass. Glass will likely see under 60 minutes of action this season, and for 650k, how do I sign up for that job? The Rangers have been notorious for calling up Juuse Saros when Henrik Lundqvist needs a breather, leaving Glass to sit and watch both the present, and future goalie of the team.
The other move was for the Rangers to sign Chris Conner to Hartford, to replace the veteran leadership on the farm, which the Wolfpack lost with Erik Condra moving along.
The Rangers then dipped into the trade market, acquiring Markus Granlund from the Flyers and Dan Hamhuis from the Capitals, both in exchange for 4th rd picks. Granlund will see limited minutes at 5v5 on the 4th line, but should see a bunch of PK time. Hamhuis will be the veteran stay at home defenceman on the 3rd pairing for the Rangers.
Finally, the Rangers added 2 more pieces near the tail end of free agency, securing Jason Pominville and his veteran presence for the bottom 6, as well as Cal O'Reilly, who will likely be the 13th forward on the Rangers. When all is said and done, the Rangers will likely be icing an opening day roster which looks like the following:
Gabriel Landeskog / Anze Kopitar / Patrik Laine
Jake Guentzel / Mark Scheifele / Alex Steen
Alex Tuch / Erik Haula / Jason Pominville
Markus Granlund / Ben Street / Troy Brouwer
Alex Pietrangelo / Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam Fowler / Matt Dumba
Dan Hamhuis / Brad Hunt
Henrik Lundqvist
Jeff Glass
There wasn't too much turnover on the Hartford Wolfpack either, although the teams 2 leading scorers, Devin Shore and Alex Tuch, have either been promoted, or moved along. The goaltending should be extremely strong with Juuse Saros and Carter Hart between the pipes. There is still some tinkering to be done by Wolfpack management, as there will likely be players brought in on tryouts, but here is a rough idea of what fans can expect down on the farm.
Ivan Barbashev / Dylan Strome / Jack Roslovic
Chris Conner / Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson / Aleksi Saarela
Marcus Power / Chris Mueller / Dmitry Sokolov
Brett McKenzie / Mitch Hults / J.J. Piccinich
Samuel Girard / David Makowski
Olli Juolevi / Kyle Wood
Peter Stoykewych / Louis Belpedio
Juuse Saros
Carter Hart
For the immediate future, the Rangers made a few moves, but nothing earth shattering. The Rangers will return next season with the same top 6 forward group, the same top 4 dmen, and the same starting goalie. It was the bottom 6 and the bottom pairing that received some tinkering, after the Rangers were eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs last season.
The Rangers first moves off the offseason saw them shore up the backup goaltender position, which is essentially a door opener, in Jeff Glass. Glass will likely see under 60 minutes of action this season, and for 650k, how do I sign up for that job? The Rangers have been notorious for calling up Juuse Saros when Henrik Lundqvist needs a breather, leaving Glass to sit and watch both the present, and future goalie of the team.
The other move was for the Rangers to sign Chris Conner to Hartford, to replace the veteran leadership on the farm, which the Wolfpack lost with Erik Condra moving along.
The Rangers then dipped into the trade market, acquiring Markus Granlund from the Flyers and Dan Hamhuis from the Capitals, both in exchange for 4th rd picks. Granlund will see limited minutes at 5v5 on the 4th line, but should see a bunch of PK time. Hamhuis will be the veteran stay at home defenceman on the 3rd pairing for the Rangers.
Finally, the Rangers added 2 more pieces near the tail end of free agency, securing Jason Pominville and his veteran presence for the bottom 6, as well as Cal O'Reilly, who will likely be the 13th forward on the Rangers. When all is said and done, the Rangers will likely be icing an opening day roster which looks like the following:
Gabriel Landeskog / Anze Kopitar / Patrik Laine
Jake Guentzel / Mark Scheifele / Alex Steen
Alex Tuch / Erik Haula / Jason Pominville
Markus Granlund / Ben Street / Troy Brouwer
Alex Pietrangelo / Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam Fowler / Matt Dumba
Dan Hamhuis / Brad Hunt
Henrik Lundqvist
Jeff Glass
There wasn't too much turnover on the Hartford Wolfpack either, although the teams 2 leading scorers, Devin Shore and Alex Tuch, have either been promoted, or moved along. The goaltending should be extremely strong with Juuse Saros and Carter Hart between the pipes. There is still some tinkering to be done by Wolfpack management, as there will likely be players brought in on tryouts, but here is a rough idea of what fans can expect down on the farm.
Ivan Barbashev / Dylan Strome / Jack Roslovic
Chris Conner / Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson / Aleksi Saarela
Marcus Power / Chris Mueller / Dmitry Sokolov
Brett McKenzie / Mitch Hults / J.J. Piccinich
Samuel Girard / David Makowski
Olli Juolevi / Kyle Wood
Peter Stoykewych / Louis Belpedio
Juuse Saros
Carter Hart
