New York Rangers Cut Training Camp Roster By 19

Sep 29, 2022 - 7:54 PM

As the clock ticks ever so closer to the start of the regular season, the New York Rangers’ opening night roster is starting to take shape. Today the team announced they have cut their training camp roster by 19 players, with some of the notable names leaving NHL camp for Hartford including Matthew Robertson and Bobby Trivigno.

Robertson, drafted 49th overall in 2019, is a player who was on a shortlist of names likely to contend for a 6th or 7th defenseman role, but that battle is now down to Zac Jones and Libor Hajek. Trivigno signed with the Rangers as an undrafted college free agent, and there was a small chance he’d hang around in a fourth-line capacity.

Other names of note include defense prospect Hunter Skinner, goaltender Dylan Garand, and Austin Rueschhoff. Skinner skated for the Pack last season and posted a line of 4-9-13 in 49 games.

Rueschhoff also played last season in Hartford, and was 9th in team scoring with 14 goals and 24 points in 49 games. At 6’7” and 229 pounds he is a certified big boi, and someone the Rangers added to the organization as an undrafted free agent from Western Michigan University.

Lastly, and certainly not least, is Dylan Garand. Garand had a sensational 2021-22 season in which he was a first-team All-Star, the WHL’s top goaltender, and the CHL goaltender of the year. The 20-year-old went 34-9-1 in the regular season with the Kamloops Blazers and posted a .925 save percentage and a 2.16 goals against average.

Hartford represents a new test, and if all goes well he could be in a position to be the team’s starting goaltender for the foreseeable future until the time comes for him to potentially backup Igor Shesterkin.

There are other names on the list of players headed to Hartford, but the three above are the main ones. If I were to add a fourth it would probably be Tanner Fritz, who was Hartford’s fourth-leading scorer last year with 36 points.

The Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils tonight in their next preseason game, and there’s a good chance a few days from now that even more names will be headed to Hartford as the front office looks to finalize the roster for opening night.