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Rangers Make Nine Roster Moves

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After submitting a cap-compliant roster for Monday’s opening-night deadline, the Rangers have shuffled their group to get to their actual game roster for tonight’s season opener against the Penguins. As expected, William Cuylle, Adam Edstrom, Victor Mancini, and Matt Rempe were recalled from AHL Hartford yesterday, making the team in effect, reports Vince Z. Mercogliano of USA Today Sports. Five players – forwards Anton Blidh, Jake Leschyshyn, and Adam Sýkora, as well as defensemen Ben Harpur and Matthew Robertson, were sent down to create roster and cap space.

The Rangers opened up a roster spot with the moves, but that’s not why they made them. Having the extra salary on the technical opening night roster allowed them to maximize their capture when placing winger Jimmy Vesey and his $800K cap hit on long-term injured reserve. They now have $792K in their season-opening LTIR pool, per PuckPedia. After yesterday’s moves, they’re sitting with north of $600K in cap space.

All four of yesterday’s recalls are expected to slide into the lineup against Pittsburgh tonight. Veteran Jonny Brodzinski appears to be on the outside looking in as the 13th forward to start the year, while Mancini will slide in for Ryan Lindgren, who’s on IR with an upper-body injury. It’ll be his NHL debut.

It’s an impressive feat for Mancini, who appears to have usurped veteran No. 7 option Chad Ruhwedel in the pecking order, at least for now. He’s also pushed himself up on the Blueshirts’ depth chart past other veteran defensive depth options with NHL experience like the aforementioned Harpur. The 22-year-old was a fifth-round pick just two years ago out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where the 6’4″, 220-lb stay-at-home defender had four goals and 23 points in 110 games with a +4 rating. He’s entering his first full season of pro hockey but did close out last year with six assists in 17 combined regular-season and playoff games for Hartford.

Edstrom, listed at 6’6″, and Rempe, listed at 6’9″, are back to reprise their roles on one of the tallest combined forward lines in league history. They got spot duty together last season when they were both on the roster, getting seven games of action flanking Barclay Goodrow. The line has lost a couple of inches with the 6’2″ Goodrow now replaced by a 6’0″ Sam Carrick, but an opening night look is still promising for the younger duo of Edstrom and Rempe.

Edstrom, 24 on Saturday, had two goals in his first 11 NHL appearances last year. Rempe, meanwhile, scored a goal and an assist in 17 games. Only the 22-year-old Rempe saw playoff action, though, drawing into 11 of New York’s 16 postseason games en route to the Eastern Conference Final.

Cuylle was always a near-lock to make the team, only being sent down briefly for cap purposes, as mentioned earlier. The 22-year-old left winger had a promising rookie season in 2023-24, scoring 13 goals and eight assists for 21 points in 81 games while averaging 11:08 per game. He played a frequent third-line role at even strength but received little to no special teams usage. The 6’3″, 212-lb former second-rounder also finished fourth on the team in PIMs (56), tied for sixth in even-strength goals (12), and led them in hits (249).

Rangers Recall 13 Players

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With the Rangers seeing their AHL team eliminated in the Atlantic Division Finals earlier this week, they were free to recall some players to the big club to serve as their ‘Black Aces’ squad.  After taking a few days, they’ve made their choices on who to bring up.  AHL Hartford announced that the Rangers have promoted goaltender Dylan Garand, defensemen Ben Harpur, Connor Mackey, Victor Mancini, Matthew Robertson, and Brandon Scanlin, and forwards Alex Belzile, Brett Berard, Anton Blidh, Jake Leschyshyn, Brennan Othmann, Tyler Pitlick, and Adam Sykora from the Wolf Pack.

Garand was briefly up with the Rangers earlier in the playoffs when third-stringer Louis Domingue was unavailable but didn’t see any game action.  The 21-year-old didn’t have a particularly strong regular season with a 3.03 GAA and a .898 SV% in 39 regular season games but was quite sharp in the playoffs, improving those numbers to 2.59 and .922 respectively in nine appearances.

Among the blueliners, only Mackey and Scanlin saw action with the Rangers during the regular season, getting into one game apiece; one of them would likely be the first from this group to get the call to play if necessary.  Harpur has the most experience with 198 career appearances (including 42 with New York in 2022-23) but missed most of the season due to injury which likely takes him off the table.  Mancini, meanwhile, is eligible to practice but not play as his entry-level contract doesn’t officially begin until next season.

As for the forwards, all but Belzile, Berard, and Sykora got into at least one NHL contest in 2023-24.  Pitlick led the way on that front with 34 appearances but was limited to just a goal and three assists while averaging a little over 10 minutes a night.  That said, he’d be the safest player to put in the lineup if necessary given his familiarity.  Othmann is one of their top prospects and had a strong year in Hartford with 49 points in 67 games.  While it would be riskier to put him in, his style of play fits in with the physicality of the postseason while Othmann could provide some potential offensive upside if Peter Laviolette has to shake things up.

Rangers Sign Victor Mancini To Entry-Level Contract

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The New York Rangers have announced that they’ve signed defenseman Victor Mancini to a two-year, entry-level contract (Web link). Mancini signs after his junior season at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, having spent all three years of college with the Mavericks. New York originally drafted the 6-foot-4, 220-pound defenseman in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Draft, his final season of draft eligibility.

Mancini is the son of Robert Mancini, who has served in roles across the hockey world – including a long career of NCAA coaching, three years as the general manager and head coach of the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit, multiple years in the Edmonton Oilers’ scout and development room, representing USA Hockey internationally, and serving as the head coach of South Africa and Romania’s World Championship team. Robert most recently served as the head coach of USA’s U17 team in 2021.

Maybe because of his father’s own journeyman career, Mancini has played across the hockey world. His youth hockey career ended with the Little Caesars program in Detroit, where he also played in a handful of games with the U.S. National Team Development Program. Rather than continue in U.S. junior hockey in the subsequent season, Mancini instead took his talents to Sweden, playing two seasons with Frölunda HC’s affiliate teams and even serving as captain of their U20 team in 2020-21. Mancini returned to America at the tail end of that season, playing in 33 games with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers, and moving to Nebraska in 2021-22.

Mancini, 21, is a rangy, right-shot defenseman with the powerful skating, hard passing, and vision needed to push his team up the ice. His long reach also keeps him effective on the defensive side of the puck, with Mancini doing well at keeping opponents to the outside. He served in a top role for Nebraska-Omaha this season, averaging nearly 21 minutes each game and serving on both special teams. He showed great prowess as a play-driver, though high-scoring has never been his groove – with Mancini managing just 23 points in 110 collegiate games. He’ll now move to the pro scene for the first time in his career, bolstering an already-deep Rangers defense room and returning the Mancini family back to the NHL level.

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