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Rangers News: "Do Skill and Speed Trump That?" Vigneault Makes it Clear Glass has to Earn Roster Spot

#cutglass?

Mike Murphy

24 Sep 2015 — 3 min read

Well, well isn't this interesting? As most of you already know Alain Vigneault had some interesting quotes earlier today regarding Tanner Glass, the Rangers' resident punchologist.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As for Tanner Glass, AV makes clear Glass has a particular skill set (read: toughness) that Rangers could use but battling for roster spot.</p>— Andrew Gross (@AGrossRecord) <a href="https://twitter.com/AGrossRecord/status/647078391963893761">September 24, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">1/2 Vigneault makes it clear that Tanner Glass must earn roster spot. "We all know skill set he brings and we don't have a lot of that...</p>— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) <a href="https://twitter.com/NYP_Brooksie/status/647066943007145984">September 24, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2/2 "...but do skill and speed trump that? We still have 4 games to play."</p>— Larry Brooks (@NYP_Brooksie) <a href="https://twitter.com/NYP_Brooksie/status/647067224252022784">September 24, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Oh, boy. Is it Christmas already?

Glass, who played in 69 regular season games with the Rangers last season and skated in all of the club's playoff games, has been cast into the shadows by the blinding performance of several younger players and AHL veterans during the Rangers' preseason and training camp. Although Glass has just skated in one preseason game to date, he certainly didn't do much to make a case that his presence is more valuable to the lineup than Oscar Lindberg, Viktor Stalberg, Jarret Stoll, Brian Gibbons, or a few other players in the Rangers' camp. In 12:45 time on ice against the Devils in the Rangers' preseason debut, Glass had 4 penalty minutes and 6 hits. Meanwhile, Jayson Megna, Oscar Lindberg, and Mat Bodie have all have eclipsed Glass' goal total from last season through the first two games of the preseason. Which really isn't saying much considering that Glass scored just a single goal in the 2014-15 season.

The fact that Alain Vigneault has publicly addressed Glass's suspect value to the team is a great sign that he is not only questioning whether or not Glass belongs on his team, it's also a sign that he's aware that some of the preseason performances from players like Oscar Lindberg and Brian Gibbons can't be ignored.

What this means for the regular season roster on opening night remains to be seen given Vigneault's assumed attachment to having Glass on the roster, but for now it is certainly something to keep an eye on with four preseason games remaining.

The Rangers take on the Boston Bruins tonight at 7:00 PM. Glass will be in the lineup and so will Oscar Lindberg, Jarret Stoll, and Brian Gibbons. From Andrew Gross' morning skate notes:

Here were the lines and defense pairs:
Rick Nash-Derick Brassard-Mats Zuccarello
Oscar Lindberg-Jarret Stoll-Tanner Glass
Brian Gibbons-Kevin Hayes-Emerson Etem
Marek Hrivik-Adam Tambellini-Ryan Bourque
Ryan McDonagh-Brett Bellemore
Brady Skjei-Dan Boyle
Keith Yandle-Tommy Hughes
Henrik Lundqvist
Jeff Malcolm

Glass is going to have to do a lot more than this if he wants to keep his spot and role in the Rangers' lineup.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here's Tanner Glass initiating with Jiri Tlusty then flipping out after he retaliated. <a href="https://t.co/meYEatMCUg">https://t.co/meYEatMCUg</a></p>— Todd Cordell (@ToddCordell) <a href="https://twitter.com/ToddCordell/status/646124273564811264">September 22, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Thanks for reading. Let's go Rangers.