One week to training camp, who will be invited

Taxi squad considerations

The Rangers will be able to carry  a four to six man “taxi squad” made of players who will travel and practice with the team and be available if anyone on the active roster is unable to play.  This is clearly a concession to the COVID-19 pandemic and is meant to ensure that teams will have enough players to field a team if there is an outbreak.

Since players on the taxi squad will be treated as if they are in the AHL, all waiver rules will be in effect.  Teams will have to decide what kind of player they want to have on these squads, not knowing what is going to happen one play begins.  There’s a belief that it would be beneficial for players to get meaningful ice time in the AHL in games as opposed to practicing with the Rangers. However, if there are numerous instances of players sidelined by the pandemic, it’s likely that taxi squad players will see a lot of of action.

That’s where waivers becomes an issue.  Here’s a list of the players who would need to clear waivers to move from the Rangers to the taxi squad:

• Kevin Rooney
• Colin Blackwell
• Phil Di Giuseppe
• Tony Bitetto
• Tony Greco
• Gabriel Fontaine
• Jonny Brodzinski
• Brandon Crawley

Any new additions?

Is there a chance for the Blueshirts to bring an unsigned player to training camp?  With the proration of performance bonuses, the team may have some cap space that they didn’t expect, but probably don’t want to spend.   There has been a lot of movement in the NHL over the last few days with Corey Perry signing with Montreal, Mike Hoffman with the Blues, Andreas Athanasiou expected to sign with the Kings and Derick Brassard working on a deal with Arizona.

The good news for the Rangers is that none of these free agent signings are in the new East Division.  The only movement there was the Capitals bringing goalie Craig Anderson to camp on a tryout as they look to replace Henrik Lundqvist.

Last season they brought four players to camp on PTO’s.  Of Micheal Haley, Connor Brickley, Joe Morrow and Mason Geertsen, Haley came out of it with a contract and played the whole season with the Blueshirts.  Geertsen got a contract with the Wolf Pack while Brickley and Morrow ended up in Europe.

There are still a number of talented free agents looking for work including Zdeno Chara, Travis Hamonic, Sami Vatanen, Andy Greene, Brian Boyle, Matt Martin and Michael Grabner.  Whether any of them could be a fit for the Rangers is questionable, even at the league minimum.