New York Rangers: Finalizing the roster won’t be easy

Why waivers are important

The ability to clear waivers or waiver-exempt status is important to the decision-making over the next few days.  The forwards who would have to clear waivers are Julien Gauthier, Dryden Hunt and Greg McKegg.

The defensemen who would need to clear waivers are Libor Hajek and Jarred Tinordi.

The feeling is that Gauthier and Hajek would be snatched up if they were put on waivers.  Gauthier’s cap hit is $775,000 and Hajek’s is $874,125 so they are both affordable and have enough potential that another team could take them.

Waivers are also a reason why a team like the Rangers passed on certain free agents this summer.   After last night, you might have thought that the team should have had an interest in 29-year-old Tomas Nosek who played for Gallant in Vegas.  He’s a solid depth center who can chip in offensively and perhaps, most important, he is excellent on faceoffs, never falling below 50% in four NHL seasons.  He won eight of 12 draws last night against the Rangers.

Nosek ended up signing with Boston for two years at an AAV of $1.75 million.  Would the Rangers have been better off spending their free agent dollars on Nosek instead of Greg McKegg ($750k) and Dryden Hunt ($762,500)?

At that salary, he would have made the NHL roster and that might have been at the expense of Kevin Rooney who makes $750k and would have to clear waivers if sent down.  He would also stand in the way of Morgan Barron who the team believed has a chance to make the varsity.

Because of the waivers risk and the fact that they have played well in the preseason, it’s likely that Julien Gauthier and Libor Hajek will start the season in New York.

Roster decisions: Goalies

There are no decisions to be made when it comes to the netminders.  Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev are the two top goalies, though their play in the preseason has been just okay.

The interesting battle is between Adam Huska and Tyler Wall for the back up role in Hartford.   Keith Kinkaid is already with the Wolf Pack as their number one and the presumptive first call up in case of injury.   Either Wall or Huska will end up in Hartford with the other going to the Rangers’ new ECHL farm team, the Jacksonville Icemen.

Tyler Wall made a case for the Hartford role with an excellent outing against the Bruins including the optional shootout.  He stopped all 11 shots he faced in regulation and overtime and he allowed only one goal in the shootout to David Pastrnak.  Huska allowed three goals on 14 shots on Friday in New Jersey, though he got very little defensive support from his teammates.

This week

The Rangers don’t play until Wednesday at the Garden against New Jersey and will go on some team building activities in the interim. Look for the team to make some roster moves in the next day or two with finalized rosters not until just before the season starts on October 13 in Washington.

Meanwhile, there was some breaking news that could be bad news for the NHL.