Rangers Daily: Rookie camp one day away; Flames open the vault for Calder runner-up Dustin Wolf
The calendar says summer still has a couple of weeks remaining. But New York Rangers fans know better: Tuesday is the last day before the unofficial start of autumn – the beginning of rookie camp.
The Rangers will welcome 22 young hopefuls to their training facility on Wednesday.
They range from players such as recent first-rounders Brennan Othmann (2021) and Gabe Perreault (2023), a pair of forwards who the Rangers would like to see make the team this season, to trade acquisitions such as defensemen Scott Morrow and Jackson Dorrington to later-round picks like center Noah Laba.
All will be trying to make an impression on new coach Mike Sullivan and his staff.
One player who won’t be there is the Rangers’ first pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, forward Malcolm Spence. He will play at the University of Michigan this season, and classes are under way. The NCAA has not altered the rule that college players cannot attend pro team camps that overlap with the academic calendar.
There will be two days of workouts before the kids get their first taste of action – they play the Philadelphia Flyers’ rookies on Friday and Saturday in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The veterans report next week, and the first preseason game is against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Sept. 21.
New York Rangers news and analysis
Does Perreault think too much on the ice? hockey prospects reporter Russ Cohen of Sportsology told Forever Blueshirts on the RINK RAP podcast that might have been the case when during the 20-year-old’s five-game stint with the Rangers late last season. He said he’s curious to see if the “old” Perreault shows up at camp this season.
Two ex-Rangers are back on Broadway as part of a revamped front office. Forward Blake Wheeler, who finished his playing career with the Rangers in 2023-24, was named hockey operations adviser on Monday. Forward Ryane Clowe, who played 12 games on Broadway in 2013, returns as assistant general manager, one day after resigning the same post with the San Jose Sharks. He had worked three seasons for the Blueshirts before joining the Sharks under GM Mike Grier.
Also, Ryan Martin was promoted to associate GM under Chris Drury – he’ll also continue in his role as GM of the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack. Jim Sullivan was promoted to assistant GM.
NHL news and rumors
TSN: The Calgary Flames liked what they saw from rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf last season, so they signed him to a seven-year, $52.5 million contract ($7.5 million average annual value). The 24-year-old was 29-16-8 with a .910 save percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average; he finished second to Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Huston in voting for the Calder Trophy – quite a first season for a player taken in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft.
The Athletic: The Columbus Blue Jackets and talented young center Adam Fantilli don’t appear to be in any rush to talk about his next contract. The No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft is entering the final season of his rookie contract, but “We’ve had no negotiations at all,” Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. “I spoke with [Fantilli’s agent Pat] Brisson last week, and they’re in no hurry from their end. It won’t get done before the season.”
The Sporting News: Islanders forward Mathew Barzal, who missed the final 31 games of last season because of a kneecap injury that required surgery, said during the NHLPA North American Player Media Tour on Monday that the injured knee may never get back to the way it used to feel, but that
“mentally, I’m at a point now where it doesn’t really matter.” He also said he’d be “100 percent ready” if the Islanders had a game tomorrow.
Sportsnet: The Vancouver Canucks are hoping that a newly married and bulked up Elias Pettersson will return to being one of the NHL’s most dangerous offensive forwards. He’s added 13 pounds of muscle during the offseason. The Canucks needs him to play a lot better than he did during his injury- and drama-plagued 2024-25 season that saw the highest-paid Canuck finish with 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games.
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