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New York Rangers: Best way to use Kampfer, McLeod this season

By John Williams

WINNIPEG, MB - FEBRUARY 11: Steven Kampfer #47, Cody McLeod #8 and Vinni Lettieri #95 of the New York Rangers get set for a first period face-off against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell MTS Place on February 11, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Rangers defeated the Jets 3-1. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - FEBRUARY 11: Steven Kampfer #47, Cody McLeod #8 and Vinni Lettieri #95 of the New York Rangers get set for a first period face-off against the Winnipeg Jets at the Bell MTS Place on February 11, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Rangers defeated the Jets 3-1. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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The New York Rangers have a lot of young players on their roster who need minutes. What role could their fringe veterans play?

The New York Rangers obviously have a lot of tough roster decisions to make during training camp.

The team has seven defenseman age 25 or younger competing for one of two spots in the top six. As for the forward group, their are seven forwards under the age of 23 that are competing for four spots in the top 12.

But the Rangers still have a couple of veteran bottom line/pair players remaining on their payroll. They’re Steven Kampfer and Cody McLeod.

Kampfer has one more year left on a two-year contract that he signed last summer while the Rangers just brought McLeod back on a one-year deal a few weeks ago.

The team is beginning a rebuild, so how will they factor these two players into what they’re trying to do going forward?

Well, the thing they should not do is throw them into the starting lineup at either the NHL or AHL level.

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At the NHL level, you are putting a bad depth player into the lineup instead of giving a younger player with higher upside and, frankly, a higher floor as well.

At the AHL level, you are preventing minutes from developing players, while also putting the kids in a bad position to succeed and grow which can stunt their development. It’s different from throwing a guy like Peter Holland down in Hartford, who’s had lots of success as a top six forward in that level.

The only way that one could rationalize bringing back McLeod and not buying out Kampfer –who, according to Puck Pedia, would only leave a $216,667 cap hit over the next two seasons — is if they’re planning on using them as extra skaters and stashing them up in the press box.

This would be a good move for a few reasons.

The first is that the team wouldn’t have to sit a Tony DeAngelo or a John Gilmour in the press box when they aren’t being used in the lineup, instead letting them take time to develop in Hartford.

The team isn’t trying to develop Kampfer, who is already as good as he’s gonna be, or McLeod, who is arguably the worst player with an NHL contract right now.

The second reason is that, especially in McLeod’s case, they must be very well liked in the room and be solid leaders. If that’s the reason, it makes sense to keep them around the kids in hopes that they show them the ropes of how to be a pro — in off-ice situations, I suppose.

It’s going to be interesting to see how the roster shakes out after training camp ends at the end of September but if the Rangers really care about the development of their prospects, then they’d leave these two up in the press box where they belong.

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