The Rangers have announced this morning that they have assigned Filip Chytil to the Hartford Wolfpack and have released Andrew Desjardins from his professional tryout.

Filip Chytil exceeded all expectations in pre-season has received little ice-time so far this season. Chytil, who has played in two games so far this season has notched zero goals and assists while taking one minor penalty. Chytil through two games is a minus two. He averaged 5 minutes of ice-time in his two games this season.

The Rangers were advised by Brad Richards to sign Andrew Desjardins to a professional tryout. Desjardins, the 31year-old had a sub-par pre-season receiving a two-game suspension for hitting New Jersey forward Miles Wood in the head.

These moves come as no surprise. Coach Alain Vigneault has not favored Filip Chytil when it comes to ice-time and Andrew Desjardins would never have beaten David Desharnais for the fourth-line center responsibilities.

But when it comes to Chytil, there is the added wrinkle of his entry-level contract. The current CBA states, according to CapFriendly, that a player who is 18 or 19 years of age must play in ten NHL games (regular season and playoffs combined) in order to burn the first year of his ELC. Given the way he has been used thus far by AV, sending him somewhere where he can play consistently is very important. Most thought he’d be sent back to the Czech Extraliga, where he has familiarity and is comfortable. But considering that the Rangers wanted Chytil over fellow first-round pick Lias Andersson, keeping him around the organization makes a lot of sense. Chytil’s time in North America isn’t coming to an end just a week into the NHL season, and him being sent to Hartford means the Rangers may bring him back to Broadway soon.

https://twitter.com/stevezipay/status/917772123317440512

The Rangers have claimed forward Adam Cracknell off of waivers from the Dallas Stars.

This has obvious implications for the Rangers. Cracknell’s signing means that rookie Filip Chytil is all but a guarantee to be sent to his Junior team, the North Bay Battalion, or his Czech Extraliga team, HC Zlin. Chytil had been relegated to minimal ice time by head coach Alain Vigneault, and having him sit on the bench or in the press box does nothing by hinder his development.

https://twitter.com/stevezipay/status/917427544139452416

The move also means that Andrew Desjardins, should the Rangers do something with him, would be nothing more than a 13th forward. Cracknell and Desjardins play a similar style, and with Cracknell being a right-handed shot, it provides a different dynamic in the Rangers bottom six.

As for Cracknell, he is a 6’2″ 218 lb. grinder who can play all three offensive positions. He is a career 40.6% on faceoffs and has 43 career points. With Jesper Fast still recovering from offseason surgery, Cracknell can step in and be the energy guy in AV’s bottom six. Because of his experience down the middle, it’s possible Cracknell is put at center. But it seems more likely that JT Miller will move to the middle, Jimmy Vesey will move up in the lineup, and Cracknell will get slotted into the fourth line. Time will tell, but this is a nice pickup by Jeff Gorton and the Rangers.

One interesting note about Cracknell is his relationship with Rangers assistant coach Lindy Ruff. Cracknell played for Ruff in Dallas last season and you’d have to think that Ruff told Jeff Gorton to take a look at the veteran forward.

Line Combinations

According to Justin Tasch of The Daily News, the Rangers are rolling with the following lines:

On the forward side, there is not much surprise here. Jimmy Vesey becomes the odd-man-out in amongst the wingers being slotted on the fourth line. Filip Chytil is going to be thrust into the limelight centering Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello. He’s got some highly skilled players on his wings, but he’s going to have to perform and show why he was worth the 21st pick in the 2017 NHL draft. Paul Carey will have a chance to make his case for playing time with Jesper Fast recovering from his offseason hip surgery.

The real fascinating point here is that Anthony DeAngelo is skating with Marc Staal on the third pair, while Nick Holden is skating with Steven Kampfer on the extra pair. This, in my mind, puts the Rangers blue line in the best position. DeAngelo’s style of play allows Staal to be a true stay at home defenseman, while his partner is active offensively.

The only aspect that I find odd, and I don’t think I’m alone on this one, is that Andrew Desjardins is still with the team. It could be because the team is still not completely sold on Desharnais, or they want to keep him around in case of injury or a struggling player who needs a break. But it seems like the Rangers are caught in the middle of not knowing what to do.

Power Play Units

David Desharnais on the second unit is interesting. Kevin Hayes was the main puck handler on the second unit last season. And maybe that’s why he was replaced because the team’s PP struggled from around mid-December until March. Hayes is a good stick handler, but he tends to overhandle the puck and not move it towards the net or to a teammate. Maybe this is AV sending his team a signal that it should be shoot first all the time. But I will guarantee you that if Desharnais doesn’t play well on the man-advantage, Hayes will be in there faster than you can say “Bob’s your uncle.”

Jesper Fast

As I mentioned earlier, Fast is in the middle of his recovery from offseason surgery, a story we broke on FullTilt weeks before the team announced it. Fast has been one of the team’s most important players since joining the Rangers a few years ago. And you know what you’re going to get from him, whether he is having a good game or not. He will be the first player in the corner, the first to block a shot, and he will never give up on a play. Seeing him back in full contact practice lets us know that he’s closer to returning than originally planned.

https://twitter.com/MattCalamia/status/915610174706130944

Alternate Captain Zuccarello

After Dan Girardi was bought out by GM Jeff Gorton, the Rangers were left with a vacancy in their leadership group. And that vacancy has been filled. The team announced today that Mats Zuccarello will wear an “A” on his sweater this season. Zucc has been one of the most consistent Rangers players the last few seasons and is exactly the kind of player you want leading the troops.

It all starts tomorrow night and we’ll be with you all throughout the Rangers’ quest for the Stanley Cup! Make sure to follow me, @ZakFTNYR, and the blog, @FullTiltNYRBlog, for all the up to the minute news and updates.

The Rangers trimmed their roster today and made some interesting decisions in doing so.

These cuts make for some interesting talking points. First is Neal Pionk. The NCAA free agent had one of the better camps of all of the Rangers prospects and, in spite of that, was sent to Hartford. Knowing how AV prefers veterans over rookies, seeing Pionk get sent down shouldn’t be such a shock. It is also worth noting that like Tony DeAngelo and Steven Kampfer, Pionk is a right-handed defenseman who was competing for the sixth/seventh defenseman spot. For this reason, it wouldn’t make sense for the Rangers to keep all three of them up with the big club.

Second is Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil. The Rangers’ 2017 first-round picks both came into camp with high hopes and expectations and for the most part, those expectations were lived up to. Andersson was physical, made plays, and was a puck hound when he was on the ice. Unfortunately for the young Swede, it wasn’t enough to keep him on Broadway, and the Rangers sent him back to Frolunda HC in the Swedish Elite League; the same team Henrik Lundqvist played for before joining the Blueshirts in 2005.

As for his Czech counterpart, Chytil had three points, including two on the PP, was also noticeable every time he was on the ice. He took a couple of big hits, but as he progresses he’ll learn how to keep his head up more in the NHL game. For his efforts in the exhibition games, Chytil earned himself the Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award, as the Rangers’ top prospect at training camp. Past winners include Henrik Lundqvist, Jesper Fast, Jimmy Vesey and Mike Richter.

An interesting side note here is that Chytil may, I repeat may, not be here all season even if he is on the opening night roster. As CapFriendly noted on Twitter, recovering forward Jesper Fast is due back at the same time that the Rangers play their ninth game. If Chytil gets sent back to either Europe or his Junior team, the North Bay Batallion, the Rangers would not burn the first year of his entry-level contract.

“I’m really glad I’m here. It’s really exciting.” #NYR forward @filip_chytil speaks about making the team out of training camp. pic.twitter.com/nvZfbhRrx0

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2017

A third talking point is Vinni Lettieri. Another impressive camp from a NCAA free agent, Lettieri showed off his ridiculous release and kept his legs moving on every single shift. He took a couple of lazy penalties, which didn’t help his stock. But when you consider the Rangers will be without Jesper Fast for the first few games of the season, Lettieri seemed like a viable option to take over for the 25-year-old Swede. Lettieri will be able to go down to Hartford and develop, so that next September, he can be a serious contender for the Rangers lineup.

A fourth talking point is Andrew Desjardins. The veteran center, who was brought into camp on a PTO, did not do much to help himself during the preseason. He was suspended for the Rangers final two preseason games after a high hit on the Devils’ Miles Wood. Desjardins isn’t anything more than a fourth line center. But given the questions coming into camp at the center position, Desjardins may have cost himself a shot at sticking with the Blueshirts.

A fifth and final talking point is Matt Puempel. After being picked up by the Rangers off of waivers from the Senators during last season, Puempel played well enough in 27 games to earn himself a contract extension. With the Rangers youth movement and overabundance of wingers, and Paul Carey coming into camp and outplaying Puempel, there simply wasn’t enough room on the team for Puempel to be anything more than the 13th forward.

That’s all for now. Make sure to follow me, @ZakFTNYR, and the blog, @FullTiltNYRBlog, on Twitter for all the latest Rangers news!

With the Rangers preseason finished, the team has a lot to do in the coming days. There are roster cuts to be made, line combinations to figure out and a whole lot more. So let’s jump right in.

Andrew Desjardins – The Rangers brought in former Stanley Cup Winner Andrew Desjardins into camp on a professional tryout contract and did not do enough to make the squad. Forget the fact that he plays a grinding brand of hockey, which is needed but not preferred in AV’s up-tempo system, he was suspended for a questionable hit on Miles Wood of the Devils. Even if Desjardins would have been a frontrunner to make this team, it would have been in a likely fourth line role; so losing him now shouldn’t be a big deal.

Roster Cuts – The Rangers announced on Wednesday that they have sent forward Gabriel Fontaine and goaltender Brandon Halverson to Hartford of the American Hockey League. Halverson’s “demotion” isn’t surprising, considering the King has a former starting goalie in Ondrej Pavelec as his understudy this season. The Traverse City, Michigan native allowed one goal on sixteen shots in his combined 20:46 time in the crease.

As for Fontaine, he also had a solid camp and was one of those possible 13th forward kind of players. He showed a lot of determination against the Flyers in the Rangers’ final preseason game when he was able to kill a good chunk of a Rangers penalty by keeping the puck in the corner. According to DobberProspects.com Fontaine is “a responsible two-way center with quality hockey smarts and instincts.” If he continues to grow as a player, he could be a serious contender for the Rangers bottom six next season.

Changing the Challenge – The NHL announced that they are changing the rules and regulations for the coaches challenge. First, and perhaps most notably, a coach can challenge a play without having to worry about burning their timeout. This gives coaches the freedom to challenge a close play without putting his team in a bad position late in the game. Second, if your offsides challenge is wrong, your team will be assessed a two-minute penalty. This may seem a bit harsh, but when you consider the minuscule margins between onside and offsides, and the time it usually takes the linesmen to make the decision, I am not opposed to penalizing the challenging team for delay of game. You can view the NHL’s official statement on these changes here.

However, there is a way, at least in my mind to take some of the “guesswork” out of the offsides challenge. And it’s a pretty simple explanation too. The rule should be, in this writer’s opinion, similar to the rule of whether or not a goal counts. Let me explain. When determining a goal, the puck does not need to be on the ice when crossing the goal line, as we have all seen in the NHL’s 100-year history. So why not apply that same principle to the blue line. Meaning, if a player’s skate is hovering above the blue line when the puck crosses into the offensive zone, the play is onside; and if not, then the play is offside. It seems like an easy fix, especially when you consider that a lot of the offsides challenges are decided by where a player’s skates are in relation to the blue line.

That’s all for now. Make sure to follow me @ZakFTNYR and the blog, @FullTiltNYRBlog, on Twitter for all of the latest Rangers news!

What to Watch For

Filling the Hole in the Middle

One thing the Rangers will be looking for during this camp is another bottom six center. The top two lines will be centered by Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes, but the third and fourth line roles are up for grabs. Jeff Gorton brought in David Desharnais on a one year deal, but the 31-year-old center is not a third line center by any stretch of the imagination. The Rangers are bringing in Andrew Desjardins on a PTO, and like Desharnais, he wouldn’t be the first choice for a third line center on most teams either.

So that leaves room for the Rangers prospects to step in and try and make a big enough impression on Alain Vigneault and the Rangers’ brass to make the roster. Players like Steven Fogarty and Cristoval “Boo” Nieves, who have spent the last two seasons in Hartford, should be getting a long look from the big club. Factor in 2017 first round draft pick Lias Andersson as well, and the Rangers have a few guys who may be serious competitors for a roster spot on opening night.

Determining the Defense

Another thing to look for is how the Rangers will fill out their defense. The Rangers top four is pretty much set in stone with Ryan McDonagh playing alongside free agent signing Kevin Shattenkirk, and youngster Brady Skjei playing next to veteran Brendan Smith. That leaves the bottom pair. Marc Staal will be on one side of the blue line, and the question remains as to who his partner will be. While it is most likely going to be his partner from last season Nick Holden, the Rangers have a bevy of options to choose from. They have 2017 Memorial Cup champion Sean Day, an offensive defenseman with great skating ability who they can bring in, but Day still has plenty of work to do on the defensive side of the puck. They have two Russian defensemen, Sergei Zborovsky and Alexei Bereglazov, both of whom are 6’4″ and are good in their own zone. The one caveat is that Bereglazov has a clause in his contract, much like former KHL teammate Pavel Buchnevich, that allows him to return to the KHL if he doesn’t make the Rangers roster.

Leading the charge is newly acquired Anthony DeAngelo, who the Rangers got from Arizona in the Derek Stepan/Antti Raanta trade. DeAngelo is an offensive defenseman with great skating ability but is lacking in his own zone. And speaking of offensive defensemen, they have 2017 Memorial Cup champion Sean Day, an offensive defenseman with great skating ability who they can bring in, but Day still has plenty of work to do on the defensive side of the puck. They have two Russian defensemen, Sergei Zborovsky and Alexei Bereglazov, both of whom are 6’4″ and are good in their own zone. The one caveat is that Bereglazov has a clause in his contract, much like former KHL teammate Pavel Buchnevich, that allows him to return to the KHL if he doesn’t make the Rangers roster.

Jeff Gorton and Alain Vigneault also have a group of NCAA signings to look at as well. Vince Pedrie and Neal Pionk were both signed out of college by the Blueshirts, and they will be looking to make a good impression as well. And let’s not forget about Steven Kampfer, who played a few games with the Rangers last season and had a little bit of success. Kampfer picked up a goal and an assist in ten games on Broadway and did a solid job in his own zone.

The Rangers have all of these guys competing for the sixth and seventh defenseman roles and hopefully, that pushes everyone to play at their best. The better these guys play, the harder it is for the coaches and general manager, but the players will be getting better trying to outperform the next guy.

These are just a couple of storylines to watch as the Rangers embark on the 2017-18 season. All of these questions will be answered in the coming weeks, and it will be a lot of fun to watch.

According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the New York Rangers have signed former Blackhawks center Andrew Desjardins to a Professional Tryout Contract.

The 31-year-old has been a bottom six player for all of his career but has had success in the NHL. He won the Stanley Cup with the Hawks in 2015 and put up four points during Chicago’s run. Desjardins is a high energy player who, like Rangers forward Jesper Fast, has a motor that does not stop. He has no problem playing the physical game in the corners or dropping the gloves and can bring a little bit of toughness to the Rangers forward group.

Should Desjardins make the team, expect him to slot into the third or fourth line center role.