The Rangers trimmed their roster to 25 tonight by sending five more players to Hartford (AHL). John Tortorella indicated before this afternoon's 5-2 win over the Bruins that he wanted to trim a little further. Probably, some of the performances, like from New Jersey native Bobby Sanguinetti, P.A. Parenteau and Evgeny Grachev, have given him reason to have a little bigger roster than he anticipated so he can continue the evaluation on the NHL level.
Goalies Chad Johnson and Matt Zaba, defensemen Ilkka Heikkinen and Corey Potter and center Paul Crowder were assigned to Hartford (AHL). Crowder likely got squeezed with today's signing of Brandon Dubinsky. Heikkinen will probably be up with the Rangers later this season after the Finnish import gets used to the smaller rinks and the speed of the game. Potter has shown he can play in the NHL as a call-up and likely will get a few games this season. John acquitted himself very well in training camp (see discussion in Live Blog from today) and seems poised to compete to be Henrik Lundqvist's backup perhaps as soon as next season, if not sooner.
Still remaining with the Rangers:
F: Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, Brian Boyle, Donald Brashear, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Marian Gaborik, Evgeny Grachev, Christopher Higgins, Ales Kotalik, Enver Lisin, P.A. Parenteau, Vinny Prospal, Aaron Voros.
D: Michael Del Zotto, Matt Gilroy, Dan Girardi, Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Bobby Sanguinetti, Alexei Semenov, Marc Staal
G: Henrik Lundqvist, Steve Valiquette
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/AGrossRecord
Semenov after taking a bunch of panalties sticks. While Johnson gets sent down after a shutout? And Pottor is now on waivers?
And what is the obsession with Parenteau? Ridiculous.
Posted by: bob | September 19, 2009 at 09:58 PM
where is Owens?
Posted by: bob | September 19, 2009 at 10:00 PM
where's locke and owens?
Posted by: KPE18 | September 19, 2009 at 10:59 PM
Andrew,
Parenteau is a New Jersey native? He was born in Quebec, then started playing in the QMJHL when he was 17...when did he live in NJ?
Bob - Owens is continuing training camp with Hartford. Semenov is trying out for the team for a 6/7th Dman. Valiquette is signed to a guaranteed one-way deal, so of course he is going to stay over Johnson. Torts is looking at Parenteau to see if he can play being a defensive winger.
Posted by: B Reid | September 19, 2009 at 11:03 PM
I am sure Andrew meant to say Sangs who is a New Jersey native, give the guy a break.
Posted by: Mark | September 19, 2009 at 11:20 PM
B Reid,
No, that's a typo, supposed to be Sanguinetti. The first two times I wrote this the computer ate it so I was pretty frustrated by my third attempt.
Posted by: Andrew Gross | September 19, 2009 at 11:23 PM
andrew which of the guys sent down - either this go around or last have to go through rentry waivers on way back up to nhl. i think potter might be but could be wrong. that might preclude those players having any chance of coming back since if claimed we lose the player and get hit with 1/2 salary of his on prorated basis as dead money something we certainly can't afford.
Posted by: LI Joe | September 19, 2009 at 11:54 PM
Andrew, I know Torts doesn't like guys on the roster and not suiting up, but do you get the idea that Torts will keep 7 d-men and 13 forwards?
Semenov must be impressive in camp. As far as Grachev, I think he has that instant impact like Malkin, Crosby, and Ovechkin had, he should stay up in the NHL.
Posted by: CP (Chris) | September 20, 2009 at 01:59 PM
CP, let's go easy on Grachev. That's lofty top 2 draft pick level you're comparing him to and although I'm sure many of us feel he's going to be a stud in the NHL for many years to come, Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin are all generational players.
Regarding Semenov, I just don't think the organization is all too comfortable starting out with 3 rookies on d', even if it may work out that way sometime during the regular season.
Regarding Voros, I have to believe he's getting a bit of a pass because of his relationship with Gaborik. I'm not too sure he'll be around too deep into the season.
Lisin should make this team and be given real minutes. It's a shame the Rangers are loaded with a lot of glorified 2nd/3rd liners who will probably bump him out of the mix. He's more than ready to surpass 20 goals ...
Posted by: Charles | September 20, 2009 at 06:42 PM
Charles, I meant to include "if" after I said "I think". Corrected: As far as Grachev, I think if he has that instant impact like Malkin, Crosby, and Ovechkin had, he should stay up in the NHL. And no, I'm not trying to say he will be as good as those three, but GM's are making more a transition to including their recent draft picks in the next year's roster, and those three were the first off the top of my head to have that instant impact.
I like that Semenov will probably be a 7th D. I wish Potter would have been the 7th guy, but I think having a Russian defenseman is good for all of the incoming Russian forwards.
Posted by: CP (Chris) | September 20, 2009 at 08:15 PM
Well "if" changes everything. I hear you. I think he's played well enough to indicate he would have a nice (not great) impact on the team --- and at far less cost than others [cough cough]. Too bad we have Drury sucking up over $7 mill a year.
Posted by: Charles | September 20, 2009 at 11:06 PM
charles - well he is here for 3 more yrs with full no movement clause. and there is a far bigger waste with 5 yrs left in redden. you're barking up the wrong tree
Posted by: LI Joe | September 21, 2009 at 11:48 AM
Am an avid Ranger fan, but in all honesty, I can't see them competing with the likes of the better teams like Pitt/Philly/etc... even with the additions/subtractions in the off season, they're just not that good. Now go prove me wrong on the ice!!
Posted by: Matt Man | September 21, 2009 at 12:14 PM