The start of the 2018-19 NHL season is upon us. With that, the New York Rangers announced their 2018-19 training camp roster.
The New York Rangers announced their roster for training camp Wednesday afternoon.
OFFICIAL: #NYR Roster for 2018 Training Camp #NYRTC. pic.twitter.com/h8e7R0Jvtw
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 12, 2018
The roster consists of 27 forwards, 18 defensemen, and seven goalies totaling 52 players competing for a roster spot this season. Players will be broken up into three different teams. Each team will be the roster that the Blueshirts send out for their preseason contests, starting Sept. 17 against New Jersey.
This year’s training camp is going to feel a bit different for the Blueshirt faithful. The team is not expected to be competitive, leaving plenty of roster spots up for grabs to younger players. The likes of Rick Nash, Michael Grabner, and David Desharnais are no longer here, youth will continue to be front and center.
Whether or not the lines on the teams stay the same is something we won’t really know until camp actually starts and the games begin. For now, it looks like the Blueshirts are going to look at Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson, and Brett Howden at the center ice position. On the flip side, Vladislav Namestnikov and Ryan Spooner look to start training camp on the wings.
Andersson, Chytil, Howden, and Boo Nieves will all look to compete for a spot at the center ice position this fall. Andersson, Chytil, and Nieves all saw time with the Blueshirts a season ago, Howden was acquired in a trade last February.
If any player should bring excitement it is Ty Ronning. Ronning has been known as a pure goal scorer throughout his professional career, scoring 127 goals in 287 games in the WHL. He will probably start the year in Hartford, but fans will finally start to see what he can do on the ice.
There will also be a competition on the blueline for the final three spots. You can assume that Brady Skjei, Marc Staal, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Adam McQuaid are all locks to make the roster. That leaves Neal Pionk, Brendan Smith, Fredrik Claesson, Sean Day, Tony DeAngelo, Libor Hajek, John Gilmour and Ryan Lindgren competing for a spot on the blueline. If any of the players mentioned above need a big camp, it’s Smith who was a major disappointment last year.
In goal, Henrik Lundqvist returns for his 14th season. Jeremy Brodeur, Alexandar Georgiev, and Dustin Tokarski will all battle it out to see who backups Lundqvist.
Training camp is upon us and just saying that has to bring a smile to your face. Hockey is back everyone, time for the best part of the year.
