Sam Weinman on his reporters blog states that “Evgeny Grachev is headed to Hartford; Michael Del Zotto and Tomas Kundratek were returned to their respective junior clubs, and defensemen David Stich was released from his try-out agreement. Surprisingly, Lyon Messier is still hanging around.”
More moves are expected to come tomorrow as many AHL teams have already opened camp but given the screwy Rangers pre-season schedule they needed to wait longer.
Why don’t you comment on who you think will be a surprise heading back to Hartford and who will surprise by sticking in NY…
Here’s the official release:
RANGERS TRIM TRAINING CAMP ROSTER BY FOUR
Four players sent to their respective clubs
New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has assigned forward Evgeny Grachev to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL), defensemen Michael Del Zotto and Tomas Kundratek were returned to their respective junior clubs, and defensemen David Stich was released from his try-out agreement.
Ranger website reiterates Sam that Grachev will detour to Wolfpack camp: http://rangers.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=383426&page=NewsPage&service=page.
My opinions: I don’t expect any real surprises, Rangers have 14 NHL F’s. Unless there are injuries, keeping up Korpi, Moore or Byers would require an NHL-level cut\trade. Those 3 are the leading candidates. They all deserve to go to Europe. Anisimov, Parenteau and Jamtin will be in Hartford, if not this weekend, then after Europe. On D, one of Potter, Pock, Fahey or (least likely) Denisov may stay up. Those 3 should go to Europe. My bet is on Pock getting the Opening-Night slot, for reentry waiver reasons. Potter and Fahey in-line for in-season call-ups. Sanguinetti gets a needed year of AHL seasoning. Wiikman goes to Europe, with Zaba, Lafleur, Brodeur and Jakaitis in Wolfpack camp. In a couple days we’ll see how worng i am ;-).
I was going to give my own opinion on who will stay up, but everything i was going to say Elsie had already stated… Although, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rangers maybe sent someone down such as Rismiller, as they have an excess of 3rd/4th liners…
I’m not sure if this is a surprise but I think that Korpikoski will stick with the Rangers this year. He may end up having to pull a Nigel Dawes and bounce back and forth between Hartford and NYC but I think he’ll do well at MSG.
I hope that Hugh Jessiman and Greg Moore do well this year.
Where is Pock going to end up? As far as the “D” goes, I’d like to see someone step up and make an impression the way that Hutchinson did last year.
No surprises here really. I think most expected Korpikoski, Moore, Byers, Parenteau, Potter and Pock to have the best shots in camp this year, and that’s pretty much how it’s played out, with the exception of Moore, who’s been a total non-factor in the pre-season games he’s played, IMHO. I don’t see him making the trip to Europe. Parenteau has actually looked better than expected and has an outside shot at making the trip. Byers could, but if reports that the Rangers only want to bring 26 players to Europe (inc. 3 goalies) hold true, I don’t think there’ll be room for him. Korpikoski’s going to Europe, no doubt.
On defense Potter’s been the most impressive, he should go to Europe. Tomas Pock may stick with the big club initially, but if he does, it will be only because of his waiver status and age, certainly not because of his play, which seems to get worse by the year instead of better. Denisov and Fahey have looked surprisingly solid, but will undoubtedly be headed to Pack camp today.
Wiikman will go to Europe as a precaution, but will be back in Hartford once the Rangers return. Sanguinetti needs to get some pro experience under his belt before he’s even looked at as a possibility. Anisimov needs to spend some time playing in all situations in Hartford — he didn’t do that last season and won’t get a serious look from the Rangers until he proves he can, no matter how much the NY media seemed to be thinking he was a legit contender for a spot in camp. Jessiman continues to improve, but is nowhere near playing in the NHL right now. Dupont and Pyatt both have a ways to go before they’re considered challengers for an NHL spot. It’ll be interesting to see how guys like Weise and Jamtin do in Hartford. And Grachev being assigned to Hartford was a huge (but welcome) surprise for me, though I suppose he could still be re-assigned to Brampton after Pack camp.
Laurie,
Good to hear from you again. As always a pretty spot on evaluation.
Last year as you may recall I was all over Lauri Korpikoski as NHL ready and a solid player. I’ve also always liked P.A. Parenteau and think he will make it up as well. He will more than likely start the year in Hartford but I think he’ll be at the top of the call up list. He just needs a little more seasoning. He’s showing that he has the offensive ability to be an NHL player. The only issue that could be held against him was last night when he had that opportunity to score, but as the replays showed he was hooked from behind and still managed to get the heel of the stick on the puck. As he adjusts to the bigger and stronger bodies he’ll make the same kind of impact in NY as he did in Hartford.
Given the strength of some of these young guys are showing, the Pack should be a VERY competitive team and could possibly be one of the better teams in the league this season. Wiikman has been pretty good and except for one blunder so did Antoine Lafleur. Zaba should be headed for the warmer climate…and smoking hot cheerleaders I might add, in Charlotte.
It’s going to be a VERY interesting season in both NY and Hartford.