New York Rangers: Chris Drury talks about the roster and prospects

Chris Drury had a press availability and discussed the upcoming season for the New York Rangers.  At the same time, the Rangers are moving ahead with a Development Camp for their prospects that kicks off on Friday.

Detailed reports about the comments from the conference call held by Chris Drury are forthcoming, but based on tweets from reporters on the call, there was some news made. Here are some key takeaways from the comments by Chris Drury.

The roster

According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, Drury felt that he addressed a “number of things” and said “I’m certainly excited about the guys we’ve added…We’re looking to have more defined roles within our lineup.”

Walker also reported that he believes that both Filip Chytil and Morgan Barron are centers, not wingers.

According to Vince Mercogliano of Lohud.com, he addressed the Ryan Reaves acquisition and revealed that he has been a target of the Rangers for years. “We think Ryan is a good player who can do a lot of things… It wasn’t a reaction to one thing… Truth be told, we tried to get Ryan three years ago… His size, his strength, he’s physical on the walls. We think he’s a good fit.”

Regarding the one year extension on his contract, Drury said “We just wanted him for another year. It’s pretty simple. We think he’s going to be good in our room and a valuable piece to what we’re doing.”

Is Drury done tinkering with the roster? Probably not, but don’t look for any major moves coming before camp.  Mercogliano reported that he said  “As every manager says every time he’s asked – I’m no different – I’m always looking to keep pushing forward and keep making the team better. But as of right now, I’m excited about where we’re at and looking forward to training camp starting.”

On the defense and Nils Lundkvist

According to Colin Stephenson of Newsday, the defense is not set, with Drury saying “Well, we do have a lot of D, that’s why we have training camp…”

Drury did indicate that Nils Lundkvist has an excellent chance of making the team, saying “He can skate, he’s got a big shot, he can be on a power play…It wouldn’t surprise me if at the end of it, he’s standing there on our team.”

A captain?

As a former captain of the Rangers, it’s clear that Drury values the role. However, he is not rushing to a decision and will let Gerard Gallant get to know the players. “I believe it’s an important piece moving forward for us to have a captain. That said, it’s got to be the right guy…”

Kravtsov isn’t a prospect anymore

Some observers were surprised that Vitali Kravtsov was not on the Development Camp roster.   Drury’s explanation was that he has more experience than the other prospects and since he is “experience” he will skate with the regulars preparing for training camp.

Drury said “We just felt like we wanted him with the NHL skaters… We were excited with big parts of his game last year.”

That’s good news for the 2018 first round pick.  His star has fallen since he was drafted and in the latest ranking of players under 23 by The Athletic’s Corey Pronman (subscription required), Kravtsov had dropped all the way to 129th overall with Pronman ranking eight other Ranger prospects ahead of him.  He dropped from being ranked 90th overall in 2020 and it was a far cry from his 11th place ranking in 2018-19.

Kravtsov did get into 20 games last season, after playing a full campaign in the KHL, scoring two goals and four points.  That’s many more NHL games than any of the players going to the Development Camp.

We’ll have a full breakdown on the players participating in the Development Camp here on Blue Line Station shortly.