Rangers expected to announce opening night roster today, Chytil likely odd man out

Chytil (Getty)

Charles Wenzelberg

The Rangers are expected to trim the training camp roster down to 22 or 23 players for Thursday’s opening of the regular season. Early indications point to Filip Chytil starting the season down in Hartford after struggling mightily to make an impression in camp.

Losing out to Strome

Ryan Strome is now slated as the second line center to start the season. When camp started, Quinn said Howden, Andersson and Chytil were all slotted to play center. Both Andersson and Howden had an effective preseason, especially Andersson who has been highly praised by the coach in camp. Andersson is expected to center the 3rd line while it looks like Howden has edged both Nieves and McKegg for the 4th line center role.

“I think that to send a 20-year-old to the AHL and have it [be] a big deal is alarming,” Quinn said. “He did play 75 games last year, but we’re talking about a 20-year-old. Not like he had 25 goals like [Elias] Pettersson in Vancouver. If you can’t send a 20-year-old to the AHL then why do we have the AHL?” Quinn on Chytil possibly starting in Hartford

Kravtsov Ready

Vitali Kravtsov had an impressive camp and showed versatility by playing both wings. He also has been praised by coach Quinn as a player who does a lot of the little things right. The coach even mentioned how Kravtsov is hard on himself when he doesn’t get the puck in deep or make the right plays. This is something that the coach recently commented on with regards to his young players. They need to build confidence in just getting these little aspects of the game down and it all grows from there.

Also the high skill level and talent for the big winger is there. His passing ability and nose for the net were evident throughout camp. All these factors are why Kravtsov will start the season with Andersson on the 3rd line with Vlad Namestnikov as the LW.

Expected forward cuts: Filip Chytil, Michael Haley, Gregg McKegg, Boo Nieves, Vinni Lettieri

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