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New York Rangers Announce Roster For Traverse City Prospects Tournament

Andersson, Bereglazov, Chytil, Day, and Pionk highlight roster for annual prospects tournament.

Today the New York Rangers announced their roster for their 11th consecutive appearance at the Traverse City prospects tournament, and it is another sign that hockey is just around the corner.

The roster includes some prominent names and in totality, it is one of most exciting rosters the team has put together in years.

The Players

Here is the full list of players participating in the tournament via the team’s press release.

Forwards: Lias Andersson, Adrian Carbonara, Filip Chytil, Gabriel Fontaine, Tim Gettinger, Ryan Gropp, Robin Kovacs, Dawson Leedahl, Vinni Lettieri, Ryan Moore, Kyle Pettit, Ty Ronning, Luc Smith and Malte Stromwall

Defense: Alexei Bereglazov, Brandon Crawley, Sean Day, Brendan Kotyk, Vince Pedrie, Neal Pionk and Sergey Zborovskiy

Goalies: Alexander Georgiev and Chris Nell

Of these names, it will be exciting to see 2017 first rounders Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil suit up, but another pair of players to watch include Neal Pionk and Alexei Bereglazov.

The Rangers’ top four on defense is pretty much set in stone with Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Shattenkirk, Brady Skjei and Brendan Smith, but the remaining spots on the third pairing are far from guaranteed.

You could say Marc Staal’s spot is the safest on the third pairing, but that leaves one spot with candidates including Anthony DeAngelo, Nick Holden and the aforementioned Bereglazov and Pionk. This tournament will give both defenders an opportunity to see how they play relative to their peers, and both being older “prospects” should give them an advantage in the context of this tournament.

Other players of intrigue for me include recently signed goaltender Alexander Georgiev, forwards Gabriel Fontaine, Tim Gettinger and Ty Ronning and defenseman Sean Day. Georgiev is going to be in competition for the starting job in Hartford, and this will be his first opportunity to show what he is capable of. It is only a prospects tournament, but nonetheless, it is his chance to make a good first impression.

Fontaine has said that he wants to be playing in the AHL or NHL for the upcoming season, and odds are he will be playing for the Wolf Pack alongside Ronning who impressed in a short stint with Hartford at the end of the season. Gettinger is coming off his best OHL season to date in which he tallied 31 goals in 62 games, which is a solid showing for a player drafted 141st overall in 2016. He was originally selected by the Rangers because of his size at 6’6” and 215 pounds, but it appears he has more to his game than just physicality and stature.

Lastly is Sean Day who is coming off a Memorial Cup championship with the Windsor Spitfires, and one of the more interesting prospects in the Rangers system. Day famously was granted exceptional status which enabled him to start his OHL career at age 15. Other players who received this status include John Tavares, Connor McDavid, and Aaron Ekblad. Day struggled to meet the expectations that were placed on him, his stock as an overall prospect fell and the Rangers picked him in the third round of the 2016 draft. Personally, I feel there is a tremendous amount of upside for Day, and he could be an exciting player for the Rangers in the near future.  For an in-depth look at Day and other Ranger prospects, I highly suggest checking out Adam’s summer series if you haven’t already.

When Are And Who Are They Playing?

The Rangers will be starting the tournament on Friday, September 8. Here is the full schedule from the Rangers’ press release.

The Blueshirts begin the tournament with a contest against Chicago on Friday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m. New York will face Carolina on Saturday, September 9 at 3:30 p.m. and Detroit on Monday, September 11 at 7:00 p.m. Following their three round-robin games, the Rangers will have a placement game against a team from the Ted Lindsay Division on Tuesday, September 12.

How Can I Watch?

Be sure to check out Blueshirt Banter throughout the tournament for updates and analysis on prospects participating in the tournament.

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