8 (now 7) players fighting for 3 jobs and Geertsen claimed by the Devils

Editors note:  This is updated to reflect that the New York Rangers waived Greg McKegg and if he clears (by 3pm Monday), he will be Hartford bound.

Mason Geertsen is no longer a New York Rangers prospect.  The team put him on waivers yesterday with the intent of sending him to Hartford, but the New Jersey Devils claimed him.   There’s always a risk of that happening when a player is put on waivers, but this one was  bit of a surprise.

Geertsen saw action in one preseason game, against the Devils last Friday and he must have impressed Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald.  Geertsen was feisty and tried to mix it up a few times with different Devils players.

Geertsen is a big, physical player who has always been a defenseman, but over the last few seasons, he made the move to forward.   The Rangers signed him to a two-year contract in March, a move that was seen as a surprise.  He was paid $725k and the idea was that he would fill the role of enforcer for the organization and many expected him to be called up for the Rangers rematch with the Capitals after the Tom Wilson incident in May. He wasn’t.

This may not be the end of Geertsen’s career as a Ranger.  He looks to be eighth on the depth chart of Devils defensemen, but an injury to Ty Smith may be an opening for him to make the team.  If the Devils want to send him to the Utica Comets of the AHL, they will have to put him on waivers and the Rangers could reclaim him.

The roster gets much smaller

The Rangers made some expected roster moves today, trimming the training camp group to only 27 players. The most players an NHL team can have on the major league roster is 23, but most carry 22 (13 forwards, 7 defensemen, 2 goalies).

Will Cuylle was assigned to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires as mandated by the NHL’s agreement with the CHL.  They would have preferred to keep him in Hartford where he played 18 games last season.

They also sent prospects Matthew Robertson, Braden Schneider, Lauri Pajuniemi, Tyler Wall and Adam Huska to Hartford.  All except Huska saw action in the win over Boston on Saturday.  Huska played on Friday in Newark.

There are no surprises here.  While Schneider and Pajuniemi were very impressive, there was no way they would be making the Rangers NHL roster and they will get valuable playing time with the Wolf Pack.  Matthew Robertson was hampered by injuries in training camp and only played in the one game.   He is in his first year as a pro, so Hartford makes sense.

Goalies Huska and Wall were both in Hartford last season and will join Keith Kinkaid there.  One of them will inevitably be sent to the ECHL Jacksonville Icemen, the Rangers’ new minor league affiliate that replaced the Maine Mariners.

Sunday the Rangers waived Greg McKegg and he needs to clear to be sent to Hartford.

Who’s left

If Vitali Kravtsov is ticketed for a top nine role, that means there is only one forward slot open and three players fighting for it.  Morgan Barron, Dryden Hunt and Julien Gauthier will be battling for the right to sit in the press box and occasionally spell Ryan Reaves.   There is no clear choice for the role with only Barron waivers-exempt if sent to Hartford.

It still looks like Zac Jones and Nils Lundkvist will be battling for the open position on the third defense pairing with Patrik Nemeth.  The loser will end up in Hartford playing heavy minutes.  That means the seventh defenseman position is open and a choice between Libor Hajek and Jarred Tinordi.  Both players have to clear waivers if they are sent to Hartford.

So, eight players and three jobs.  There are only two games left for Gerard Gallant to make that decision.

With some team building activities planned for the next day or two, there shouldn’t be any additional roster moves until play resumes on Wednesday with the Devils coming to the Garden.