Rangers prospect Will Cuylle is focused on making team out of development camp
Will Cuylle #13 of Team White skates during warm up for the 2020 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game against Team Red at FirstOntario Centre on January 16, 2020 in Hamilton, Canada. Credit: Getty Images/Vaughn Ridley
The Rangers’ opening night roster can’t include more than 23 players, and when the season opens a month from now in Washington, it’s hard to see where there will be any room for any unexpected players to be there.
But Will Cuylle doesn’t care about any of that. The Rangers’ second-round pick in the 2020 NHL draft is here now, performing in the Blueshirts’ Prospect Development Camp, and he isn’t just here to visit New York City for the first time.
"Obviously I want to make the team,’’ Cuylle said Monday, when asked what his goal is for his first development camp. "You come to camp and you want to make the team. So I'm just taking it one day at a time and trying to do my best every day to show the coaches and the management, what I can bring.’’
It’s way early, but so far Cuylle (pronounced "Cooley’’) is showing some good stuff. In Monday’s scrimmage, Cuylle drove the net and set up Matt Rempe’s tiebreaking goal in the white team’s 2-1 victory over the blue team. On Sunday, Cuylle had two goals of his own for the white team in that day’s 3-1 victory.
"It was a good day, obviously,’’ Cuylle said of Sunday’s performance. "It was a good fast pace, and it was nice to score a couple goals there.’’
The 6-3, 212-pound forward was taken with the 60th overall pick – a pick acquired from the L.A. Kings in exchange for forward Lias Andersson. Cuylle described himself at the time as a physical forward, one who modeled his game after notorious Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson.
Monday, Cuylle, 19, was asked about that comparison to Wilson, whose name is practically a curse word in the Rangers organization, following his assault on Artemi Panarin in a game late last season.
"Obviously some stuff has happened,’’ Cuylle said of Wilson. "He's not a player I genuinely like or anything, but obviously, his type of game and the style he plays, that's someone I still try to emulate my game after -- being physical, playing hard.’’
With the Ontario Hockey League shut down last season because of the coronavirus pandemic, Cuylle was allowed to play for the Rangers AHL affiliate in Hartford, where he scored two goals, with three assists, in 18 games, with 35 penalty minutes. His experience playing in the AHL taught him he can play at that level, and now, the next challenge is reaching the NHL level. Cuylle is trying to do that this season.
"The coaches and the manager know what I bring to the table,’’ he said. "I’ve got to make the decision easier for them, whether I'm ready or not. I’ve just got to show, every day, what I can bring.’’
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.
