The Rangers risk losing high-ceiling talent for free at final roster cuts

The Rangers have a few tough choices to make when it comes to how they'll use their final open roster spaces; everyone who played this past preseason game seem to be a lock for opening night which creates three last opportunities.

Dylan Garand, Scott Morrow, Jaroslav Chmelař, Matthew Robertson, and Taylor Raddysh are all on the outside looking in; lucky for the Rangers Chmelař isn't waiver eligible yet so sending him down to the AHL would be no issue while Raddysh could very well be the 13th forward for the Blueshirts to start the season.

With only two-three spots up for grabs, it feels like the Rangers are about to let an attractive name become available for free, so who has the best shot in sticking around? Here's a quick rundown on the three Rangers fighting for the last seats.

Matthew Robertson

Robertson took over as the Rangers 6th defensemen during this past season where he became a solid contributor to New York's blueline. In 72 games, Robertson registered 18 points and was on the ice for modest 2.62 expected goals against per sixty (xGA/60), fourth among all Rangers defensemen to play 300+ 5v5 minutes.

Robertson was respectable in his own zone under sheltered minutes and only being 25 years-old he could serve as a familiar backup option on the third-pair incase the team decides most recent fifth overall pick Alberts Smits should spend some time in the AHL.

Scott Morrow

Acquired from the K'Andre Miller trade last year, Scott Morrow was seen as one of the higher defensive prospects in the NHL after three impressive seasons with the University of Massachusetts. However defensive inconsistencies plagued his first season in New York. Morrow was on the ice for 3.07 xGA/60, dead last among all Rangers defensemen, but also attributed to 2.93 xGF (expected goals for)/60, second behind Adam Fox.

It was a glass half empty, glass half full situation for Morrow; on one side his offensive capabilities shined as he was the Rangers second best offensive contributor on the backend analytically, on the other end of the ice it was clear he wasn't defensively ready.

Morrow's only 23 but with him now being waiver eligible it puts the Rangers in a pickle. This is a player that could potentially play right now, with some fans favoring the young-puck mover over Braden Schneider. But the reality is Morrow, at best, will be the team's seventh maybe eighth defensemen which is no place you want a young defender developing.

But if you place him on waivers, a team desperate for defender help such as the Anaheim Ducks will pounce on the opportunity to get a free, young defenseman with a solid ceiling. With that alone it feels like Morrow should stay on the roster, but it's not a lock.

Dylan Garand

Garand was impressive during his first three games in the NHL with two wins, a .948 SV%, and 5.38 GSAx. He looked like a lock in being the backup to Igor Shesterkin before Chris Drury acquired veteran goaltender Joonas Korpisalo during free agency day, now his status with the team remains up in the air despite doing everything right.

Mike Sullivan has expressed adequacy with keeping three goaltenders on the main roster for a short period of time, but how long would that leash be? Only he knows. For the time being Garand looks to be the Rangers third goaltender and maybe he gets some starts during the early parts of the season until the team fully grasps who they should keep between he and Korpisalo.

Nonetheless the truth is that if the Rangers put Garand on waivers, he'd get scooped up in an instant just like what the Senators saw with Leevi Merilainen just recently.

Who Should Stick Around?

The Rangers could fit all three of Robertson, Morrow, and Garand if they decided to assign Chmelar to the AHL as well as placing Raddysh on waivers, but there's also a world where Chris Drury gambles and decides to keep a forward in place of one of the three youngsters.

Personally, Morrow and Garand both carry solid upside with their relative young age while it feels Matthew Robertson has already maxed out as a fringe 6th D for a team, and is replaceable by someone like Urho Vaakanainen if need be. If the decision were up to me I'd prioritize keeping Morrow and Garand with the NHL group as it's too much of a risk to lose each for absolutely nothing. (Also keeping Garand means potentially no Spencer Martin playing meaningful minutes, which is a huge win in itself.)

The deadline for roster cutdown in September 28th 5:00 PM EST and the Rangers have some very interesting decisions to make during the next couple of days.

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