Rangers Daily: Last preseason game; Sidney Crosby ready for 21st season
Before the New York Rangers can inaugurate their 100th season against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, there’s still the matter of the final preseason game. The Blueshirts conclude the preseason Saturday afternoon against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden — and while they’d obviously like to win, they’re likely more interested in not getting anyone hurt.
Forward Artemi Panarin didn’t take part in practice Friday because of an upper-body injury after missing time earlier in camp with a lower-body injury that kept him off the ice for a week. Center J.T. Miller returned to practice Friday in a non-contact jersey after sustaining a lower-body injury Monday.
“I think it’s just a day to day thing at this point,” coach Mike Sullivan said Friday. “Our hope is that we’ll have them for opening night.”
Sullivan confirmed that Panarin won’t dress – meaning that he’ll have missed all six preseason games. He sounded more hopeful that Miller would be able to go.
The Rangers are 2-2-1 entering their preseason finale. Sullivan said Friday he’s happy with what he’s seen during training camp.
“I’m excited about working with these guys,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun to this point, and I know it will continue to be. But I’ve been really encouraged and excited about the level of enthusiasm around the group every day. I think if we continue to have that, we can’t help but get better every day.
“We think we have good people and we have a lot of talent. … I think we’ve got the opportunity to be a real good team. Right now, that’s all it is – an opportunity. Now we have to go out and earn it.”
The Rangers sent two of their top prospects, defenseman Scott Morrow and forward Gabe Perreault, to Hartford of the AHL on Friday – opting to give them plenty of ice time in the minors to further their development. There’s no question the Rangers think both are a big part of their future – after a little more seasoning.
“We believe these guys have the potential to have a lasting impact on the New York Rangers,” Sullivan said. “We’re trying to make the best decisions we can to try to help that process and get these guys as close to pushing their way onto the roster as they can.”
New York Rangers news and analysis
Jim Cerny takes a look at what’s next for the Rangers after they sent Perreault and Morrow to Hartford.
Here’s Jim’s look at the storylines for the game against the Bruins.
Sullivan has emphasized that he wants the Rangers to be tougher to play against. They’ll need to improve after the 3-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. Another area needing improvement: Through five preseason games they’ve been outscored 10-0 in the third period.
NHL news and rumors
NHL.com: Sidney Crosby looks like he’s ready for the Rangers. Crosby prepared for the start of his 21st NHL season by scoring the tying goal late in the third period and the winner nine seconds into overtime to give the Penguins a 5-4 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Penguins finished the preseason 5-1-1, including five straight wins.
TSN: The Edmonton Oilers locked up coach Kris Knoblauch through 2028-29 with a three-year contract extension. The former Hartford Wolf Pack bench boss has gotten the Oilers to the Stanley Cup Final in each of the past two seasons, though they lost to the Florida Panthers each time. Knoblauch joked that the Oil has “much more important” contracts to negotiate other than his own heading into the season – referring to star center Connor McDavid, who can become a free agent on July 1.
NJ Hockey Now: The Devils saved about $375,000 on the salary cap by swapping enforcers with the Ottawa Senators, dealing Kurtis MacDermid – known best to Rangers fans for his fight with Matt Rempe — for Zach MacEwen. New Jersey is still about $3.5 million over the cap after signing defenseman Luke Hughes to a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $9 million, but is likely to get under by putting another defenseman, Johnathan Kovacevic ($4 million AAV) on LTIR after knee surgery.
NHL.com: Scott Laughton is week to week for the Toronto Maple Leafs with a lower-body injury. The veteran forward was injured in a 3-1 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday and will miss Toronto’s regular-season opener against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 8. Despite the apparent opening created by Laughton’s injury, the Leafs also placed center David Kampf on waivers.
Boston Hockey Now: The Rangers won’t see forward Fabian Lysell, the Boston Bruins’ top pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, when they play Saturday. The 22-year-old failed to break camp with the B’s for the fourth straight year and was sent down to Providence of the AHL on Friday. He played 12 games with Boston last season but did little at camp or in their preseason games to earn an NHL job.
Colorado Hockey Now: Jack Johnson, a defenseman who played briefly (13 games) for the Rangers in 2020-21, was released from his PTO by the Minnesota Wild. That could spell the end of the line for the 38-year-old, selected by the Carolina Hurricanes with the third pick in the 2005 draft (two picks after the Penguins took some kid named Crosby). Johnson never played for the ’Canes but did play with six clubs during a 19-year NHL career that included winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
The Hockey News: Defenseman Andrej Sustr, released from his PTO with the Rangers earlier this week, signed an AHL PTO with the Bridgeport Islanders.
