New York Rangers training camp opens Monday

No word on the roster as the New York Rangers training camp opens on Monday

The NHL enters the final phase of the Return to Play before actual games are played when players report to their home training camps The New York Rangers are one of 15 teams that has yet to release their roster for training camp.  Nine teams did provide a list of players as reported by nhl.com. 

The list of players who have opted out of the resumption of the season has grown to six.

1. Karl Alzner – Montreal Canadiens
2. Steven Kampfer – Boston Bruins
3. Travis Hamonic – Calgary Flames
4. Mike Green – Edmonton Oilers
5. Roman Polak – Dallas Stars
6. Sven Baertschi – Vancouver Canucks

There could be more as the deadline is Monday at 5pm EST.  Again, there is no word on any Rangers not participating, though you could include Lias Andersson on that list as he was invited, but chose not to return to North America.

Carolina news

There is some news out of the Carolina Hurricanes, the Rangers’ Stanley Cup Qualifier opponent.  Carolina General Manager Don Waddell told the Raleigh News & Observer that although defenseman Brett Pesce is on their training camp roster, he may not be able to play.  The Tarrytown native had shoulder surgery on March 5 and Waddell says that he is still weeks away from being able to even skate.

The Hurricanes must include him on their final roster if he is able to play at all  in the Stanley Cup Playoffs and they have to decide if they want to use a roster spot for him if he cannot see action until August.

Pesce’s injury is good news for the Rangers, though injured defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Sami Vatanen a both healthy and will be ready to go.

The Hurricanes released their training camp roster:

Forwards:   Sebastian Aho, Ryan Dzingel, Warren Foegele, Morgan Geekie, Steven Lorentz, Jordan Martinook, Max McCormick, Brock McGinn, Martin Necas, Nino Niederreiter, Vincent Trocheck, Jordan Staal, Andrei Svechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen, Justin Williams and Ryan Suzuki.

Defensemen:  Joel Edmundson, Haydn Fleury, Jake Gardiner, Dougie Hamilton, Brady Skjei, Jaccob Slavin, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Sami Vatanen and Jake Bean.

Goalies:  Petr Mrazek, James Reimer, Alex Nedeljkovic and Anton Forsberg.

Injuried: Brett Pesce

Good-bye Lindy

One person who will definitely not be at the Rangers training camp will be Assistant Coach Lindy Ruff who was named head coach of the New Jersey Devils on Thursday.  The Rangers announced that Hartford coach Gord Murphy will replace him through the postseason.  Murphy is well suited to the role as he served as an assistant coach  for 16 years with the Flyers, Panthers and Blue Jackets.

Murphy was also a defenseman for 14 years in the NHL with four different teams.   It’s not clear if Murphy will take Ruff’s place on he bench running the defense.  That job may go to Assistant Coach Greg Brown who was the “eye in the sky” coach for David Quinn.  If that’s the case, it may be Murphy watching from above.

Murphy served as Associate Head Coach with the Hartford Wolf Pack, assisting Kris Knoblauch. The team had one of their best campaigns in years, finishing fourth in the Atlantic Division after contending for the top spot most of the season.  They finished with the 9th lowest goals against total in the 31 team AHL

One important fact to note was that Igor Shesterkin played a big role in Hartford’s success.  With Shesterkin on the roster, the Wolf Pack were 23-8-7.  After he was promoted to the NHL in January, Hartford had a record of 8-12-4.  The team also suffered after the trade of their best defenseman, All-Star Joey Keane, to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Lindy Ruff was the target of much abuse for the Rangers’ mediocre defensive numbers. The Rangers allowed 3.14 goals per game, eighth worst in the league.  Only Chicago allowed more shots per game than the Blueshirts who gave up an average of 34 shots against.  The Rangers also killed off 77.4% of their penalties, eighth worst in the NHL.   The Rangers’ high powered offense and superior goaltending masked their defensive issues.

With Ruff gone, we will see if it was a case of bad coaching or a lack of talent.  There’s no doubt that the blueline corps is more offensively oriented, but this season Ruff was handed the best group of defensemen he has had since he joined the team three seasons ago.