Note: This story has been updated to reflect roster moves.
The Rangers just wrapped their first 1-5-0 preseason since 2013-14. Maybe that’s a good omen, though that eventual Stanley Cup finalist went to western Canada to play most of its preseason schedule while Madison Square Garden was being renovated. But it was a good team that needed time to adjust to a new coach and things worked out pretty well despite a bad preseason and even worse start to the regular season.
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Peter Laviolette and Chris Drury have only a couple of roster decisions left to make before the rosters have to be finalized on Monday but there are some tough calls, made by an impressive camp from at least one prospect. There are also some players who haven’t made the coach and GM feel terribly secure about certain spots in the lineup.
Let’s break down what we’ve seen and what it means with less than a week to go until the opener.
Players who helped themselves the most
Kaapo Kakko: He may not be poised for eye-popping numbers but Kakko has steadily built up his game over four seasons to the point where he is the unquestioned RW1 on this roster. His quick-release goal on Thursday just cemented that fact. There’s good chemistry with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad and Kakko’s confidence with the puck below the opposing hash marks looks as good as ever.
Will Cuylle: He forced a hard decision from Chris Drury on Friday and did it by stepping up all preseason long. Jonny Brodzinski, who seemed to have a lock on the 13th forward role with a strong camp, and No. 8 defenseman Ben Harpur went on waivers Friday to make room for Cuylle as the 22nd player on the roster. He earned it and he also needs to play — so will he stick around after Filip Chytil and Tyler Pitlick get healthy? Don’t count Cuylle out.
Erik Gustafsson: The journeyman defenseman came to camp with a purpose and he’s certainly achieved it. Zac Jones has looked good too but Gustafsson has been the sharpest Ranger defenseman in the preseason and has seemingly won the sixth defense spot with ease.
Igor Shesterkin: He doesn’t need the boost, but of all the stars on this team, Shesterkin looked the most ready for the season.
Players who didn’t help themselves
Jonathan Quick: All the questions about Quick coming into camp have yet to be answered. He played 130 minutes behind a team fumbling its way through a new defensive system but he also did nothing to dispel the idea that his ugly 2022-23 was an aberration. The .807 save percentage and 11 goals allowed are just bad numbers. The Rangers don’t have a back-to-back until Thanksgiving weekend so Quick should have some options for a couple of starts in the first two months. Here’s hoping they’re good ones. The alternatives aren’t real pretty.
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Alexis Lafrenière: He wasn’t alone in having a meh preseason but not too many other top-six forwards needed to come out and show they belong. After the rough playoff series, the underwhelming bridge deal, the chance to impress a new coaching staff with some extra effort, there was very little that stood out for Lafrenière. It sure looks like he’ll start the season on the right with Artemi Panarin and, if healthy, Filip Chytil. How long he stays there is up to Laf.
Braden Schneider: He spent two seasons mostly in a sheltered role and now it’s expected that the 22-year-old will be able to handle increased minutes and Laviolette’s more aggressive system for defensemen. It’s been a rocky process in the preseason for Schneider, so we’ll see where his head’s at when the games count.
Blake Wheeler: He’s mostly been slotted right where he should be, as the RW3 and in a second power-play unit role. That may not be enough to show off what made Wheeler an upper-level forward in the last decade for the Jets, but also he hasn’t really shown much of what made him that upper-level forward so far. If he needs to move up the depth chart, there could be some issues.
Prospects to keep an eye on
Brennan Othmann: He faded a bit as the preseason went along but there’s a lot to like about the 2021 first-rounder. He’ll get a chance at big minutes in Hartford.
Dylan Garand: He was good enough from the rookie camp on through this week that maybe, if things go south with Quick, the 21-year-old might end up getting some NHL backup work sooner than expected.
Dylan Roobroeck: The 178th pick in June, the 6-foot-7 Roobroeck looked very smooth in the rookie camp and the one NHL camp scrimmage he got. A big kid who skates well, he’s one to keep tabs on at Oshawa of the OHL this season.
The roster
With the decision Friday to waive Brodzinski and Harpur it seems the Rangers will go with 22 players on their opening roster, which rewards Cuylle and gives the team some cap space to start accruing from day one — this roster would be roughly $675,000 under the cap. Perhaps it’s a gamble to potentially lose depth in Brodzinski and Harpur but that’s why Drury signed players like Riley Nash and Connor Mackey in July. Here’s our best guess at the lineup for Thursday in Buffalo:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Chytil-Lafrenière
Cuylle-Trocheck-Wheeler
Goodrow-Bonino-Vesey
Ryan Lindgren-Adam Fox
K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba
Gustafsson-Schneider
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Shesterkin
Quick
Extras: Pitlick, Jones
(Photo of Kaapo Kakko: Dennis Schneidler / USA TODAY Sports)
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