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New York Rangers: What roster spots are up for grabs in camp?

By Nicholas Zararis

CALGARY, AB - MARCH 2: Rob O'Gara, Tony DeAngelo #77 and teammates of the New York Rangers celebrate a goal against the Calgary Flames during an NHL game on March 2, 2018 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images)
CALGARY, AB - MARCH 2: Rob O'Gara, Tony DeAngelo #77 and teammates of the New York Rangers celebrate a goal against the Calgary Flames during an NHL game on March 2, 2018 at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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New York Rangers
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 20: Ryan Spooner #23 of the New York Rangers skates with the puck against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on March 20, 2018 in New York City. The Columbus Blue Jackets won 5-3. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ryan Spooner /

The wide open

Once the top six is solidified, the team has one of Spooner and Namesntikov as well as Vesey and Fast that need spots. So, that leaves a total of three roster spots in the bottom six, unless one of the 2017 first round picks makes the team. Being conservative, let’s say that the team needs to pick three forwards to bring to the NHL at the start of the season.

Candidates for this group include Vinni Lettieri, Michael Lindqvist, Ville Meskanen, Boo Nieves, Brett Howden, Ty Ronning and Tim Gettinger. Being that Nieves and Howden are both centers, they would likely be given priority in terms of a roster spot.

So in theory, the Rangers need a a third line winger, a fourth line winger and a fourth line center out of this group of forwards. None of these eight candidates have significant NHL experience, which gives no realistic sample to work with. There is also the outside chance that veteran enforcer Cody McLeod makes the team out of camp simply as a warm body.

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