Following the Cody McLeod trade, the New York Rangers will recall Vinni Lettieri from the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, the New York Rangers shipped Cody McLeod to the Nashville Predators opening a spot on the fourth line. According to the New York Post’s Larry Brooks, that spot will be filled by Vinni Lettieri. He is expected to be in the lineup Wednesday against the Boston Bruins.
Rangers able to get a seventh from Nashville for McLeod, who in 56 games of limited minutes for NYR was on for 6 goals for and 27 against…Blueshirts recalling Lettieri (12-15=27 in 29 AHL games) for tonight v Bruins
— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) February 6, 2019
Lettieri had an impressive training camp for the Rangers scoring two goals in four games in preseason action being involved in almost every shift he had. He would make the team and skate in 16 games before being sent back to Hartford.
The main issue for Lettieri is that he has yet to translate his game from preseason action into the regular season. He has always had the skill set to be a productive player evident by his 35 goals with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the last two seasons.
One of the reasons the Rangers like Lettieri’s game is because he’s not afraid to put the puck on net, something head coach David Quinn has stressed extensively this season. The only issue is Lettieri seemed to leave that part of his game in training camp.
The 25-year-old forward will likely skate on the Blueshirts’ fourth line to start. But as we’ve seen all season long, if you perform, Quinn is not afraid to bump you up in his lines.
Lettieri has the ability to become a depth player in this league, he just has to figure it out. Now he’ll be getting some valuable playing time considering he is going to be the Rangers 12th healthy forward with Brett Howden out the next few weeks.
It’s now up to him to go out there and prove his game translates to the NHL level.
