GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Continuity, experience and health are pillars lifting the New York Rangers as they begin preparations for this season.
The Rangers, who opened training camp Wednesday with off-ice testing and meetings, are entering Year 2 under coach Peter Laviolette after winning the Presidents’ Trophy by setting club records for wins (55) and points (114) in a single season in Year 1.
They return 28 of the 35 players who played in at least one regular season game for them last season; 16 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies. They have 19 of the 23 players who dressed and/or played in their run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, which lasted until Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final before they were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
Moreover, everyone is healthy and expected to be on the ice when the Rangers skate for the first time Thursday other than forwards Ryder Korczak (upper body) and Riley Nash (lower body), who are both ticketed for Hartford of the American Hockey League.
“Every team starts training camp with the excitement and the ambition to do great things, to have a great regular season, get yourself into the playoffs, give yourself an opportunity to win the Cup and ultimately one team will win the Cup,” Laviolette said Wednesday. “I think we have a real good group here. I believe in the players that we have in the room. I think we can work hard and establish ourselves this year like we did last year. We realize there’s 32 teams, but I do like what we have. It’s a great group to work with.”
Up front, the Rangers added Reilly Smith and Sam Carrick, replacing Barclay Goodrow (waived, claimed by the San Jose Sharks), Jack Roslovic (signed with the Carolina Hurricanes) and Alex Wennberg (signed with the Sharks).
On defense, they lost Erik Gustafsson (signed with the Detroit Red Wings), but all that means is Zac Jones will move up from No. 7 to No. 6 and Chad Ruhwedel returns, only now as the No. 7 on the depth chart instead of No. 8.
Igor Shesterkin is still the No. 1 goalie and arguably the best in the NHL. Jonathan Quick is still the backup and a leader in the dressing room.
In fact, the Rangers’ roster carryover from last season to the start of this season has led to the expectation of there being fewer camp battles for roster spots. There might be one or two spots where jobs could be won or lost, if that many.
The bigger storylines for them in training camp involve individual players taking the next step, like Alexis Lafreniere in his quest to become a star, Kaapo Kakko trying to re-establish himself after a down year and Filip Chytil simply hoping to just stay healthy.
Lafreniere soared as the right wing on a line with Vincent Trocheck and Artemi Panarin last season, setting personal NHL bests with 28 goals, 29 assists and 57 points. He then had 14 points (eight goals, six assists) in 16 playoff games. He’s in the last year of a two-year, $5 million contract. The mega deal is likely just around the corner for the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft.
“He's a very important young piece for our team not only because of where we drafted him, but he continues to grow and in our eyes continues to get better and better,” general manager Chris Drury said. “I'm not going to get into negotiations, but he certainly is an exciting young piece for us and one that we hope just like Igor [Shesterkin] is here for a long time."
Kakko was beset by a lower-body injury early last season that cost him 21 games. He never seemed quite right and was limited to 19 points (13 goals, six assists) in 61 games after producing 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points in 82 games in 2022-23.
He was even a healthy scratch for Game 2 in the conference final. He finished the postseason with one goal and one assist in 15 games.
Kakko signed a one-year, $2.4 million contract on June 13. It’s essentially a prove-it deal.
"He dealt with an injury last year and admittedly didn't have the best year,” Drury said. “We're excited to have him back. He's a real good, young, talented player. He's another guy that had a terrific offseason and in the early testing looks great. I think he's out to prove that last year was a fluke and he's ready to have a good year for us."
Chytil has been given a clean bill of health and is full go for training camp, Drury said. He sustained a season-ending upper-body injury on Nov. 2 last season and missed the last 72 games before returning to play a small role in six playoff games. But he’s in line now to be the Rangers’ No. 3 center, potentially with Kakko on his right wing.
“Nothing holding him back, which is great news for everyone,” Drury said.
Drury’s comments about Lafreniere, Kakko and Chytil are indicators of the optimism the Rangers have going into the season.
They know what they have and what they’re capable of, and they’re healthy on top of it.
The only real question is can they be better than they were last season, when they were historically good.
“The goal [last season] was to always have good days, to focus on the wins, try to become better as the year moved along, try to win hockey games, as many as we could, but doing it on the short-term basis of attacking each day and making the most of each day,” Laviolette said. “Nothing will change from that. That’d be great to get the same number of wins or more, but there are 31 teams that want a say in that as well so it’s best to bring it back and keep it really simple, just focus on a daily basis, keep it more short term. That helps keep the focus inside of what we’re doing in what can be a very long year.”
