Zac Jones, Libor Hajek battling for sixth spot on defense
Zac Jones of the Rangers skates during training camp at the team's practice facility in Tarrytown, N.Y. on Sept. 14. Credit: Errol Anderson
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Ten days before the 2022-23 season opener for the Rangers against the Tampa Bay Lightning, it is time for the Blueshirts to bond.
After a brief, crisp practice Saturday at their practice facility, the Rangers took off for Rhode Island, where they will spend Sunday doing all manner of fun, team-building exercises, to be followed by two practices, Monday and Tuesday at the University of Rhode Island.
“A lot of teams do these, and obviously you get two-and-a-half, three days together with your group and I think it's a lot of fun,’’ coach Gerard Gallant said. “We'll have a couple of practices up there to stay in shape and get everything going right, but they'll have some good times, and they'll have some fun golfing and skeet shooting or whatever they're going to do.’’
When they return, they will have two remaining preseason games, Wednesday against Boston and Saturday against the Islanders at UBS Arena to help determine who is going to make their opening night roster. Twenty-eight players went to Rhode Island and only 23 can be on the roster for Oct. 11, though GM Chris Drury admitted before training camp started that it’s possible the team might only keep 22, in order to save a little money and create a little flexibility under the $81.5 million salary cap.
So there are still decisions for Gallant and Drury and their staffs to make over the next week or so. Gallant said there probably is one spot still open among the forwards and one on defense.
“Our team's a really good hockey team, and we got better, and our young players are really good,’’ Gallant said. “There's going to be some good players not make our hockey team. And that's the way it works. It's a good problem to have, but it's a tough problem… It's exactly, when camp started, how you thought it would shake down. But the closer it gets, the tougher it gets.’’
Zac Jones, who played some games for the Rangers last season but played mostly at AHL Hartford, and Libor Hajek, who played sparingly as the seventh or eighth defenseman for the Rangers last season, are dueling for the sixth spot on defense. The loser likely will serve as the seventh defenseman, but Hajek knows from personal experience how frustrating a job that can be. With few injuries to players in the top six, he played just 17 games last season.
There is an intense battle going on between Dryden Hunt, Julien Gauthier and Jimmy Vesey – in camp on a professional tryout – for the extra forward spot. There may be a battle between Ryan Carpenter and Gustav Rydahl for the fourth-line center position, but Carpenter would seem to have the edge in that one.
Vesey, 29, scored 16, 17 and 17 goals in his three seasons with the Rangers from 2016-19, and he has been impressive throughout camp, having scored a goal in the first preseason game and adding two assists in the second. Gauthier has been forceful in the preseason, but he had a great preseason last year, then underwhelmed in the regular season, with just three goals and seven points in 49 games, despite good ice time and a high number of scoring chances.
“He's had a great camp this year,’’ Gallant said of Gauthier. “But… you see our roster. They’ve got to battle for those spots. And he's one of those guys that's in the mix.’’
Hunt was singled out by Gallant a week ago as having impressed in camp to that point, but he hasn’t scored in the preseason and he doesn’t kill penalties, which is something Vesey does very well.
Roster moves
The Rangers announced some roster moves Saturday, sending five players down to Hartford, including 2020 second round pick Will Cuylle, who had entered camp with an outside shot of earning a fourth-line spot on the roster. Along with Cuylle, forwards Tim Gettinger and Lauri Pajuniemi and defensemen Ty Emberson and Andy Welinski were assigned to the Wolf Pack. Goaltender Louis Domingue was reportedly placed on waivers, and will likely be sent down to Hartford on Sunday, assuming he clears waivers.
Trocheck back
Center Vincent Trocheck, who missed Friday’s 2-1 preseason win over the Devils in New Jersey because he was “under the weather,’’ according to the Rangers, was back at practice, as was winger Kaapo Kakko, who missed Friday’s practice for the non-game group due to “maintenance.’’
After practice Trocheck said he was feeling fine, and Filip Chytil, who took his spot in Friday’s game, cracked, “He just wanted me to have a chance to play with (Artemi Panarin). He wanted me to play back-to-back.’’
“I felt like Fil didn’t have enough stamina,’’ Trocheck joked. “We needed to get him playing back-to-back early to get him built up.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.