RANGERS CUTS 

Some surprises in who was cut today…not the least of which was Dale Weise. We thought Dale was playing exceptionally well and was on a fast track to make it in New York. What is also a surprise is that Michael Sauer is still in New York after what has seemed to be an iffy pre-season to this point.

Now the question arises, Do last year’s Captain, Dane Byers and forward Kris Newbury make it through waivers to get to Hartford in the first place.

Wade Redden cleared waivers and has been assigned to the Wolf Pack.It might still be a couple of days before anyone knows if he reports or has found a place in Europe. If we were guessing he will at least be in the Pack locker room for the time being. Redden could become an unrestricted free agent if he walked away from his contract by not reporting, but that would be nothing short of insane.

Our guess is that Michael Sauer and Pavel Valentenko get sent to Hartford. The guys on the bubble up front are: Todd White, Tim Kennedy, Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust. Two of them will likely stay in New York and two will head to Hartford. Kennedy will likely be Hartford bound because he’s young and needs to play and then it’s anyone’s guess…

As an aside, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that ex-Ranger first round picks, Al Montoya (Phoenix) and Hugh Jessiman (Chicago) have both been put on waivers. Also, Steve Zipay reports that ex-Pack/Ranger Jed Ortmeyer has accepted an invitation to the Islanders Training camp on a Professional Try-Out (PTO).

Here’s the complete list from TSN of players who were put on waivers. Notice the large number of ex-Pack players on it.

Mike Angelidis (TB),  Chris Durno (TB),  Mitchell Fritz (TB),  Blair Jones (TB), Vladimir Mihalik (TB), Juraj Simek (TB), Paul Szczechura (TB), Trevor Smith (AN), Dane Byers (NYR), Kris Newbury (NYR), Jeremy Williams (NYR), Darryl Boyce (TOR), Joey Crabb (TOR), Ryan Hamilton (TOR), Alex Foster (TOR), Ryan Hollweg (PHX), Alexandre Picard (PHX), Garrett Stafford (PHX), Nolan Yonkman (PHX), Matt Climie (PHX), Al Montoya (PHX), Patrick Davis (NJ), Stephen Gionta (NJ), Olivier Magnan-Grenier (NJ) Bradley Mills (NJ), Tim Sestito (NJ), Chad Wiseman (NJ), Mike McKenna (NJ), Brian Willsie (WSH), Kyle Greentree (WSH), Andreas Thuresson (NSH), Teemu Laakso (NSH), TJ Hensick (STL), Brad Moran (EDM), Gregory Stewart (EDM), Hugh Jessiman (CHI), Tyler Weiman (VAN), Triston Grant (FLA), Gord Baldwin (CGY), William Thomas (FLA), Andre Benoit (OTT), Mike Brodeur (OTT), Cliche, Marc-Andre Cliche (LA), Thomas Jordan Trevelyan (SJ), Jay Leach (SJ), Sean Sullivan (SJ), Jon Disalvatore (MIN), Robbie Earl (MIN), Petr Kalus (MIN), Warren Peters (MIN)

Here’s the official release.

RANGERS TRIM TRAINING CAMP ROSTER BY 11

27 active players remain with the club                  

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the following five players have been assigned to Hartford (AHL): goaltender Chad Johnson, defenseman Wade Redden and forwards Evgeny Grachev, Dale Weise and Mats Zuccarello.  In addition, forwards Dane Byers, Kris Newbury and Jeremy Williams will continue training camp with Hartford, while defensemen Garnet Exelby, Brandon Manning and Alexei Semenov have been released from their tryout agreement.

The Rangers now have 27 players remaining in training camp, including two goaltenders, nine defensemen and 16 forwards.  New York continues their exhibition schedule on Wednesday, September 29 at 7:00 p.m. when the team will face-off against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden (7:00 p.m.), in the second game of their home-and-home set.

PLAYERS ASSIGNED TO HARTFORD (AHL) ON 9/27/10:

Goal (1):             Chad Johnson

Defense (1):      Wade Redden

Forward (6):      Dane Byers*, Evgeny Grachev, Kris Newbury*, Dale Weise, Jeremy Williams*, Mats Zuccarello

* Player must clear waivers prior to being assigned to Hartford                             

PLAYERS RELEASED FROM TRYOUT AGREEMENT ON 9/27/10:

Defense (3):      Garnet Exelby, Brandon Manning, Alexei Semenov

PLAYERS STILL IN NEW YORK RANGERS TRAINING CAMP:

Goal (2):             Martin Biron, Henrik Lundqvist

Defense (9):      Michael Del Zotto, Steve Eminger, Matt Gilroy, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Michal Rozsival, Michael Sauer, Marc Staal, Pavel Valentenko

Forward (16):   Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, Derek Boogaard, Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, Erik Christensen, Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, Alex Frolov, Marian Gaborik, Tim Kennedy, Vinny Prospal, Brandon Prust, Derek Stepan, Todd White