Hockey is back tonight for the New York Rangers as they begin a sprint to the regular season by playing a series of preseason games before opening the regular season on September 29th in Boston against the Bruins.
Even though the Rangers have a clear split of talent in training camp, the players most likely to make the roster have been in Group A while the AHL bound players have skated in Group B, you are going to see a mix of talent over the next few days. With the Rangers getting things started tonight, let's get into rules that will limit who participates this week.
Here’s the breakdown by group 👇🏼 pic.twitter.com/cVEXjcmKPM
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) September 17, 2026
NHL CBA rule changes limit veteran participation in preseason
The preseason is only four games this year, and a reason for that is because the NHL regular season is now 84 games long. The two extra games in the regular season resulted in a shorter preseason, but that's not the only change in the CBA.
Effective this year, players with 100 games of NHL experience are only permitted to appear in two preseason games. This rule change means fans are going to see a lot of younger talent and prospects, and you may see a mix of AHL lifers who've yet to establish themselves in the NHL.
In the case of the Rangers, there are some names of note that fans will get to see more than two games. Noah Laba was a rookie last season, and he remains under the 100-game threshold. The same applies to Gabe Perreault who had a cup of coffee after turning pro in 2024-25, and appeared with the Rangers for half a season in 2025-26.
There's also players such as Adam Sýkora, Jaroslav Chmelař, Drew Fortescue, Vincent Iorio, and Matt Rempe who have yet to log enough games to be limited by the 100 games or less mandate.
Rangers' goaltending decisions will be interesting
Igor Shesterkin is the Rangers' starting goalie, and it will be interesting to see if he appears in one or two games. It is entirely possible that the Rangers want to give Dylan Garand an extended look in the preseason, and then make their decision on whether or not he's done enough to avoid waivers and start the season in New York.
What is #NYR head coach Mike Sullivan looking for when deciding who will be backup goalie?
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) September 16, 2026
"I think Chris spoke about adding depth to our organization in a number of different positions. Well, the goaltending position is one. I think that we've added for different reasons. I…
I would also imagine the team would want to give Joonas Korpisalo a look, which would make sense in all fairness, but there's no real reason to give the veteran a second start. He was brought in via trade with the Boston Bruins, and even though he has valuable veteran experience, goaltending was an area the Rangers didn't need to devote more cap space to.
If the Rangers were to give Shesterkin two games and then split the remaining two starts between Garand and Korpisalo, that would also keep everyone guessing as to what their next move would be. Mike Sullivan is already on record with the potential of the team opening the season with three netminders on the roster, and it could be a sound strategy for October which is a pretty hectic month.
We will learn later on today the group participating in tonight's festivities, so stay tuned for more on that front, as well as a look at the players to watch for Game 1 of the 2026-27 NHL preseason.
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