Here are today’s news and links:

Rangers News:

• Larry Brooks remarks that whatever we see out of the Rangers this season will only be half of their larger plan (NY Post)
• Brett Cyrgalis relays word that Brett Howden has traded in his training camp number for a real number, opting to wear #21 (NY Post)
• Cyrgalis also discussed how Kevin Shattenkirk will be looking to make the most out of a healthy season with the Rangers (NY Post)
• Colin Stephenson heard from Brendan Smith about what helped him battle back from last year’s stint in Hartford to New York’s opening night roster (Newsday)
• Mark Herrman argues that the Blueshirts aren’t the only local team years away from contention (Newsday)
• Dave Shapiro reports that the Hartford Wolfpack have finalized their opening night roster, and Brandon Halverson is notably absent from it (Blue Seat Blogs)
• Michael Delasandro previews what the team can expect to get out of Henrik Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev (Blue Line Station)
• Nicholas Zararis suggests that the Rangers might be stuck with Tony DeAngelo regardless of where his development goes from here (Blue Line Station)
• Zararis also made three predictions for October (Blue Line Station)
• On February 8th, the Rangers will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the 1993-94 Stanley Cup Champion Rangers. Dust off your VCR’s for this one, folks (Official Team Site)/

Around the NHL:

• James O’Brien ponders how much of a difference Erik Karlsson’s acquisition will make for the San Jose Sharks (NBC Sports)
• Geoff Baker reports that the NHL’s executive committee unanimously voted in favor of moving forward in the process of expanding to Seattle in time for the 2020-21 season (Seattle Times)
• Jamie McLennan ranks the 31 starting goaltenders around the NHL (TSN)
• 15 months after signing Sam Gagner to a three year, $9.45 million contract, the Vancouver Canucks have waived him and assigned him to AHL Toronto (Sportsnet)/