Rangers Roundup: Gorton, Quinn and Players Speak To Media

Zak Chiger Sep 28, 2018

After announcing the official roster to start the 2018-19 regular season, Rangers GM Jeff Gorton, head coach David Quinn, and rookie Brett Howden spoke to the media to discuss the year ahead.

Jeff Gorton

The first question asked of the Rangers general manager was the one that all fans of the Blueshirts had on their minds when the roster came out; why was Lias Andersson sent to Hartford? Gorton answered saying that “what’s best for him is to be playing and not be on the fourth line.” Following up on that, when asked about Brett Howden and him being the fourth line center, Gorton added the following: “As camp evolved, and coaches started handing out more ice time, and in different situations, I think he handled killing penalties and doing different things better and we could see him playing more [ice] than we could give Lias right now.”

To put a bow on this topic, when asked if management was upset that Andersson didn’t make a stronger case to make the team, Gorton responded saying “the harder thing to do is make these decisions for these players, and we could easily find five, seven, or eight minutes for Lias, [I think he’s that close], but if we want to maximize where he’s going and what he’s gonna be for us this is the right decision.”

Gorton was asked about Vinni Lettieri and if he made the team because of his play in the final week of camp and quickly gave a resounding “yes.”

"I expect this group to get better every day and go out and try to win every single game."#NYR GM Jeff Gorton talks about roster decisions, goaltending and much more. https://t.co/B8vcb8C4kN

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2018

David Quinn

When he was asked about Brett Howden and his reason for sticking around with the Rangers, head coach David Quinn had this to say.

"He's a guy that plays a 200ft game, he's got a great mind, plays fast, energetic, and he earned a spot on the team."

Coach Quinn on Brett Howden making the #NYR roster https://t.co/XyP25cWcvd

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2018

Quinn was also asked about goaltender Alexandar Georgiev and his making the squad and coach Quinn had this to say.

"He's a competitor, he's got an incredible demeanor about him, he's mentally tough and he's very athletic so he's earned this spot."

– #NYR Coach Quinn on Alex Georgiev https://t.co/LkBDRUcyqZ

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2018

Finally, Quinn was asked about his expectations for his team, and he responded with the following.

"I think about coming here every day to becoming the best team we can be, making every guy a better player, making us a better team collectively and playing the way we want to play."

– #NYR Head Coach David Quinn https://t.co/Mi2aoYJ60Q

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2018

Players Talk To Media

Lastly, both the aforementioned Brett Howden and Alexandar Georgiev spoke to the media about making the team at their respective positions.

"I'm just going to take all the opportunity I have and do the best I can."#NYR @B_Howdy21 on making the team https://t.co/MvlWCVl8rD

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2018

"I was really, really happy."

-Alex Georgiev on making the #NYR roster https://t.co/wdtj3GIOLl

— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2018