[brooks] Rangers Receptive to Young Players if Play Warrants Roster Spot; See Chytil, Andersson as Centers

[Phil]

The future of the Rangers was on the ice Thursday at the club?s practice rink before departing for the Traverse City rookie tournament that begins Friday. There was Filip Chytil and Lias Andersson; Brett Howden, Libor Hajek and Ryan Lindgren; Sean Day and Ty Ronning; Ville Meskanen and Michael Lindqvist.

 

And though there appears little room available for many of these NextGen Blueshirts to crack a roster that is jammed with veterans from last season?s varsity, general manager Jeff Gorton told The Post the team is prepared to accommodate young men whose play warrants a spot in the NHL.

 

?It?s fair to say that if a guy proves he?s ready, we?ll make whatever roster moves are necessary to accommodate him,? the GM said. ?We?re not going to hold anybody back because we have X number of veterans here under contract.

 

?At the same time, though, if a player is going to be in the NHL, he has to earn it. We?re not giving anyone a spot just to show that our kids are developing. We?re operating under a merit system.?

 

There appears to be a glut at center, with Mika Zibanejad and Kevin Hayes ensconced in the middle; Vlad Namestnikov and Ryan Spooner as veteran options; and Chytil, Andersson, Howden and Boo Nieves competing for spots. Peter Holland is back for another go-round as well. Gorton said, however, the team does not envision moving any of the kids to the wing.

 

?The intent is to have all three at center to start,? Gorton said of Chytil, Andersson and Howden. ?We want them to play their natural position and see how they look there. That?s how we want to evaluate them. As we move along, we?ll see, but we don?t have a plan to move any of the them to the wing. We think of them as centers.?

 

https://nypost.com/2018/09/06/rangers-second-year-studs-in-middle-of-center-glut/

 

 

 

 

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[siddious]

Nothing wrong with anything being said here.. not rushing anyone and not holding anyone back.

 

Will be interesting to see how camp goes.. haven?t been this excited for a camp/pre season in years.

 

 

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[Slobberknocker]

And though there appears little room available for many of these NextGen Blueshirts to crack a roster that is jammed with veterans from last season’s varsity, general manager Jeff Gorton told The Post the team is prepared to accommodate young men whose play warrants a spot in the NHL.

 

:confused:

 

Did I miss something, did we win the cup last year??

[josh]

:confused:

 

Did I miss something, did we win the cup last year??

I think he's including Chytil and Andersson as returners. In that case, there are no spots

 

Kreider - Zibs - Buchnevich

Spooner - Hayes - Zuccarello

Namestnikov - Chytil - Fast

Vesey - Andersson - Scrub 1/Scrub 2/Scrub 3

 

Skjei - Shattenkirk

Staal - Pionk

Smith - DeAngelo

Kampfer - Claesson

[ThirtyONE]

I think he's including Chytil and Andersson as returners. In that case, there are no spots

 

Kreider - Zibs - Buchnevich

Spooner - Hayes - Zuccarello

Namestnikov - Chytil - Fast

Vesey - Andersson - Scrub 1/Scrub 2/Scrub 3

 

Skjei - Shattenkirk

Staal - Pionk

Smith - DeAngelo

Kampfer - Claesson

 

This is true but what I took from Gorton's quote was all these players are on contracts that can and will be moved if necessary. It seems like Brooks was expecting to go into this season with 4-5 blank spaces in the lineup.