The 22-year-old, taken by the Rangers in the first round (No. 16 overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft began his fifth rookie camp on Wednesday when 22 hopefuls took the ice at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown, New York. He arrived after switching up his summertime schedule, opting to move his workouts to Gary Roberts Performance in Vaughn, Ontario.

Among those working out at the former NHL forward’s facility were Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, as well as Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog.

“They helped me gain some of my confidence back that I didn’t really have here toward the end of the year,” he said, “so they did a great job.”

Othmann arrived at camp weighing 195 pounds, meaning he’s added about 10 pounds of muscle. He brought a more mature attitude as well.

“It’s just that when I got called up last year, I think I was a little bit nervous and starstruck at the time,” he said after skating at left wing on a line with center Noah Laba and right wing Gabriel Perreault. “I felt like being around NHL guys for the whole summer – and, I mean, I was around NHL guys basically since February. Coming to camp now, I’m not really nervous or anything like that.”

Scenes from Day 1. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/F705hEtRs0

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 10, 2025

After another day of practice, Othmann and the rest of his rookie teammates will get their first chance to make an impression on new coach Mike Sullivan and his staff when they play the Philadelphia Flyers’ rookies on Friday and Saturday in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

New York Rangers news and analysis

Othmann isn’t the only player at rookie camp to add some muscle. Perreault arrived 10 pounds bigger after his summer workout routine, although he still clocks in at just 180. “I know that it’s not going to be given to me,” he said of making the team out of training camp. “Every day I’ll work hard and try to prove it.”

Here’s a little from Perreault, who said he gained about 10 pounds this summer and came to camp around 180 lbs. #NYR pic.twitter.com/vvzPAiRgRD

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) September 10, 2025

Laba, who’s all but certain to begin the season with AHL Hartford, said “there’s a lot of lessons to be learned here, a lot of teaching points. … It’s my first one, so I am kind of taking it all in.” Playing between Othmann and Perreault “was awesome.” One thing that could boost Laba’s chances of making it to the Garden sooner rather than later is the Rangers’ lack of young talent in the middle.

Finally, as the Rangers remind us each year on Sept. 11, never forget those who lost their lives on this day in 2001.

We remember, reflect and honor all those affected by the events on September 11th. pic.twitter.com/e1XMxIjrje

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 11, 2025

NHL news and rumors

TSN: Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin says the team is continuing to negotiate with Kirill Kaprizov after a media report indicated the star left wing turned down a record-setting deal said to be worth $128 million over eight years. Kaprizov is entering the final season of a five-year, $45 million contract. “My role as general manager is to protect our players,” Guerin said on the 10,000 Takes Show. I know two things. That info didn’t come from us, and it didn’t come from Kirill’s agent. I don’t know where it came from.

San Jose Hockey Now: The San Jose Sharks signed forward Michael Misa, the second player taken in the 2025 NHL Draft, to an entry-level contract on Wednesday. Misa  led all CHL players in scoring last season with 134 points (62 goals, 72 assists) and earned the Red Tilson Trophy as Ontario Hockey League (OHL) Player of the Year while playing for Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League.

NHL.com: Unlike Kaprizov, Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel says he’s not worried about his next contract as he enters the final season of an eight-year, $80 million deal. “For me, it’s business as usual,” Eichel told NHL.com at the NHL/NHLPA North American Player Media Tour on Wednesday. “Things like that kind of take care of themselves when you’re focused on the right things. I know that will sort itself out.” He said he’s at ease partly because there is mutual interest from both sides to get a deal done.

Sportsnet: To Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, brother Jack’s recently expressed public wish for a family reunion is a nothingburger. “I don’t even think it’s a big deal,” he told Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on during a recording of the 32 Thoughts podcast. Jack and Luke Hughes play for the New Jersey Devils; Jack is locked up until 2030 and the Devils are working on a long-term deal with Luke. Quinn is two seasons away from unrestricted free agency and is making no promises to re-sign.

New Jersey Hockey Now: Speaking of Luke Hughes and the Devils, colleague James Nichols takes a look at his contract status. Luke and the Devils have yet to come to terms on an extension as training camp nears, though GM Tom Fitzgerald says he’s confident a deal will get done.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Sidney Crosby is trying to shrug off the trade questions during the players media tour in Las Vegas. But the words of his agent, Pat Brisson, have raised some eyebrows. Our colleague Dan Kingerski takes a complete look at Sid’s status.

On the positive side, the Rangers didn’t lose any ground to teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings. They remain three points out of the first wild card and four out of the top wild-card spot. They also closed out a resurgent month with a solid 8-3-3 record that vaulted the Rangers right back into the playoff mix.

The flip side? Well, the Rangers failed to leapfrog the idle Detroit Red Wings nor the Montreal Canadiens, who lost 4-1 at home to the Winnipeg Jets. They didn’t capitalize on the Boston Bruins losing 7-2 to the Buffalo Sabres — so the Bruins remain four up on the Rangers for the first wild card. And they didn’t close the gap on the Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators, each of whom was idle Tuesday.

Oh, and the Rangers failed again to defeat a legit playoff team, just as they did Sunday in a 5-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche. It appears the Rangers are good at handling business lately against the mediocre lot they’re battling with for a playoff spot. But when it comes to defeating the better teams in the League? Yeah, not so much.

So, like anything there’s good and bad here. With 32 games remaining, there’s plenty of time for the Rangers to secure a playoff berth. But the wasted opportunities recently — after digging a big hole with that 4-15-0 stretch in November and December — do give pause about their viability as a playoff contender.

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New York Rangers news

Costly defensive breakdowns highlight (lowlight?) our three Rangers takeaways from the shutout loss to the Hurricanes.

Peter Laviolette explained why he believes the Rangers “need (Zac Jones) here” in the NHL, as opposed to sending him to the AHL for conditioning.

Matt Rempe didn’t make a huge impact on the game against Carolina, but he’s recently cemented himself as fixture on New York’s fourth line with Adam Edstrom and Sam Carrick.

Trade rumors continue to swirl around J.T. Miller. NHL insider Darren Dreger issued a warning to the Rangers — or any other team — swinging a deal for Miller.

Before the puck dropped Tuesday, the Rangers were “curious” as to how the Hurricanes look after adding star forward Mikko Rantanen in a trade with the Avalanche.

NHL news

More on Miller: Canucks president Jim Rutherford had plenty to say about the former Rangers forward, the feud with Elias Pettersson and a possible tear down in Vancouver that could include trading captain Quinn Hughes.

Despite a flurry of trade rumors, Pittsburgh Hockey Now was told this by a Penguins official about Sidney Crosby: “Sid’s not going anywhere.”

Two-time Stanley Cup champion Brandon Saad was placed on waivers by the St. Louis Blues.

Minnesota Wild star Kirill Kaprizov will be out another four weeks following surgery on his lower-body injury.

Defenseman John Klingberg is expected to make his Edmonton Oilers debut against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

Check out this breakdown of a comic showdown between Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson and Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson.

As for the Capitals, they keep rolling along with a 3-1 win against the Flames.

Don’t look now, but here come the Islanders. Ilya Sorokin is back on top of his game and he led the Islanders to their fifth straight win Tuesday, 5-2 over the Avalanche. Somehow the Islanders are one point behind the Rangers, with a game in hand.

Miro Heiskanen left the Dallas Stars’ overtime win against the Vegas Golden Knights with what appeared to be a left leg injury. There was no update on his condition postgame.

Watch Wyatt Johnston record a natural hat trick for the Stars on Tuesday.

The Montreal Canadiens lost defenseman Kaiden Guhle with a lower-body injury in the third period of their 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

Tage Thompson and JJ Peterka each had a hat trick to power the Buffalo Sabres past the Boston Bruins.

The former Rangers coach has the Flyers (22-20-6) even with the Blueshirts in the standings, each team with 50 points. Philly is on a six-game point streak (5-0-1) and won three straight following a 2-1 overtime victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday.

Of course, the Rangers (23-20-4) are humming along right now with a season-long nine-game point streak (6-0-3). They’re coming a terrific 60-minute effort in a 5-0 win against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday.

Something’s got to give Thursday at MSG in this ever-increasing tight race in the East.

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New York Rangers news

Tom Castro dives into why the surging Rangers do not need to trade for J.T. Miller, but still need to tweak the roster.

Good on Matt Rempe. He’s certainly had his share of ups and downs, but appears to be in a good place on the Rangers’ fourth line now, complete with a big goal against the Senators on Tuesday.

Peter Laviolette really liked how the Rangers “hung together” and stood up for Igor Shesterkin in that scrum with Ottawa the other night.

Will Cuylle has taken on more responsibility in a top-six role with the Rangers, and is doing quite well, thank you very much.

A pair of Rangers forward prospects are nominees for the 2025 Hobey Baker Award as the top men’s player in NCAA hockey. Gabe Perreault of Boston College and Noah Laba of Colorado College are among the nominees named Wednesday.

Also, if you missed it, here are our three takeaways from the Rangers impressive 5-0 win against the Senators.

NHL news

The New Jersey Devils suffered a massive blow with the news that goalie Jacob Markstrom will “miss some time” with an unspecified injury after leaving a 5-1 win against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday following a goal-mouth collision. Here’s how the Markstrom injury affects the Rangers.

The Minnesota Wild will have leading scorer Kirill Kaprizov back in the lineup Thursday when they host the Utah Hockey Club. Kaprizov was activated from long-term IR after he missed 13 games with a lower-body injury. Captain Jared Spurgeon will also return from a lower-body injury. The defenseman hasn’t played since Dec. 31.

Matthew Knies sustained an upper-body injury after a second-period collision against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday and did not return for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who lost 5-1.

Watch Adam Fantilli of the Blue Jackets record the first hat trick of his NHL career.

Former Rangers defenseman Neal Pionk scored 17 seconds into overtime to lift the Winnipeg Jets to a 3-2 win against the Avalanche.

Check out Pionk’s OT game-winner.

Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves to help the Los Angeles Kings slip past the Florida Panthers 2-1.

The Rangers are in the midst of three days between games, following a 5-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday. They will practice again Wednesday, after on- and off-ice sessions Tuesday, and before a complete day off Thursday. They return to action against the resurgent (more on that below) Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday at Madison Square Garden.

Entering Wednesday, the Rangers (13-10-1) are tied with the Philadelphia Flyers for fourth in the Metropolitan Division. However, it should be noted that the Rangers have games in hand on each team in the division except the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The Blueshirts, who’ve lost six of their past seven games, are nine points behind the Devils and Washington Capitals, who are tied for first in the Metro, but just two points out of last place in the division.

So, there’s your morning slap in the face.

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New York Rangers news

Following their latest loss Monday, Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trocheck were among the team’s stars groping for answers about how the Rangers can free themselves from their current funk.

Speaking of that 5-1 loss to the Devils, here are our three takeaways, including just another brutal start by the Rangers.

Do you know who may not be getting enough — if any — blame for the most recent slump? Igor Shesterkin. We take a dive into why Shesterkin’s recent play should be concerning for the Rangers.

Speaking of concern, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette has none when it comes to Adam Fox not scoring any goals this season.

Looking to save every possible penny against the NHL salary cap, the Rangers assigned seventh defenseman Chad Ruhwedel to Hartford of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. Three days of savings, and then a likely recall on Friday.

News and storylines from the NHL

Final rosters were announced for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Wednesday, with three Rangers added.

Fox was already named to the U.S. squad and Zibanejad is on Sweden’s roster. Trocheck and Chris Kreider were named to Team USA Wednesday evening, a few hours after Kaapo Kakko was selected to Finland’s roster.

Remember, we mentioned the Penguins? They won their fourth straight game Tuesday, a wild 5-4 OT victory against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Bryan Rust’s game-winning goal.

Welcome back Patrik Laine. In his debut with the Montreal Canadiens following a trade from the Blue Jackets in the offseason and knee injury during the preseason, Laine wired home his first goal 7:23 into the second period of Montreal’s 2-1 overtime win against the Islanders.

Speaking of overtime, Kirill “The Thrill” Kaprizov kept the good times rolling in Minnesota, scoring the OT winner when the Wild defeated the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. The Wild (17-4-4) have won four in a row and are first overall in the NHL standings with 38 points.

The Calgary Flames and Blue Jackets joined together for an emotional tribute to the late Johnny Gaudreau which included his parents and widow. The forward, who starred for both the Flames and Blue Jackets in the NHL, was killed tragically in a biking accident this summer. Of secondary importance, the Flames won 3-0 at Scotiabank Saddledome.

During his time with the Rangers, Zuccarello won the prestigious Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award (as chosen by the fans) three times. The cries of “Zucc” from the Garden rafters were among the most common sounds at MSG during those years.

“He’s a great teammate, you know, guys like to play with him, he loves to have fun. To me he was kind of that annoying little brother,” Rangers goalie legend and former teammate Henrik Lundqvist said on a recent TNT broadcast. “He’s a great guy, great player.” 

However, the Rangers faded during the late 2010s and traded him to the Dallas Stars in February 2019 as part of their rebuild. Zuccarello played two games before an injury cost him the rest of the season, then signed with the Minnesota Wild as a free agent that summer. He’s had the three best offensive totals of his career during the past three seasons, but at age 37, he’s on pace for his most prolific season yet — and he’s a big reason the Wild are off to a 5-1-2 start that included a sweep of the two Florida teams this past week.

The line of Zuccarello on the right side with Marco Rossi at center and Kirill Kaprizov on left wing carries the offense for the Wild. Zuccarello had the primary assist on the tie-breaking goal Thursday in a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a perfect cross-seam pass to Matt Boldy, who one-timed it past Andrei Vasilevskiy for a power-play goal that put the Wild ahead to stay. He also had an assist in a 7-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, giving him at least one point in seven of Minnesota’s eight games.

Zuccarello also had a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday; the assist made him the fastest player in Wild history to reach 200 – he did it in 330 games; the previous team mark belonged to Mikko Koivu, who had 200 assists in 400 games.

The goal in Florida was Zuccarello’s fourth of the season, a number he didn’t reach until Nov. 12 last season.

“Usually, I have four goals until Christmas, so it’s better now,” Zuccarello joked after scoring against the Panthers.

Related: Alexis Lafreniere ‘fired’ up to stay with Rangers with 7-year extension

Mats Zuccarello helps lead Wild to fast start

Kaprizov, usually a shooter, has often assumed the role of passer for his linemate — as he did in Florida, where he drew goalie Sergei Bobrovsky out of position and slipped the puck to Zuccarello, who put it into a wide-open net.

“He likes to shoot this year more,” said Kaprizov, a three-time 40-goal scorer who has assists on each of Zuccarello’s four goals; three were primary assists.

Zuccarello’s stats took a big jump after he and Kaprizov became linemates when Kaprizov joined the Wild for the 2020-21 season. He’s had two of his three 20-goal seasons and the three highest point totals of his career playing on a line with the Russian star.

They’re buddies as well as linemates. Kaprizov even found a way to play in a charity game organized by Zuccarello in Norway during the summer; the trip took a lot of juggling because Russians have been banned from flying into Norway on airplanes because of the war in Ukraine. But he got there.

Not many players have their best seasons in their 30s, but Zuccarello is one of them. He’s been so good that Wild general manager Bill Guerin signed him to a two-year contract extension last September that will keep him with the Wild through the 2025-26 season.

“It’s the energy, it’s the jam he brings every night,” Guerin said after the extension was announced. “He does everything. He sticks up for his teammates, he brings energy, he’s gritty, he makes plays. He does everything for the team.”

The Rangers know that well, because Zuccarello was all that for them, as well. The Garden Faithful must wait until April 2 to see their former favorite son this season, since the Wild play their lone game at MSG on April, near the end of the season.

So, for now, the love affair continues long distance.