There were a few talking points from the New York Rangers practice today.

The first would be Brandon Dubinsky missing practice due to the flu. The Rangers have another off day after today, so hopefully he's better by the time the team takes on the Florida Panthers, and hopefully it doesn't spread to anyone else. Brad Richards also missed practice due to a maintenance day. 

According to Andrew Gross, where defenseman Anton Stralman fits into the equation is still unknown.  

The first question, after a brief chat about where he's thinking of living and which preschools he's looking at and how nice an amusement park Rye Playland is (Stralman was unaware the Rangers used to practice there), was exactly where he was in the conditioning/learning process.

"Good question," Stralman said. "I try to work on it every day in practice. Right now, there are a little more practices than at the start (when I signed). Now, there's more system, how we play. That's a little harder. I'm trying to learn as quickly as possible. My timing is starting to get better, which is good."

It seems to me Stralman is either having a very difficult time impressing John Tortorella, or the coach simply can't pick a defenseman to swap him out with. In the end, both Steve Eminger and Jeff Woywitka have been serviceable on the back end and haven't exactly played themselves out of a roster spot. 

Thoughts on all this guys?