As we are now 67 days away from opening night for the New York Rangers, one thing that the organization needs to address first is training camp, and while most of the team will look the same apart from the additions of Blake Wheeler, Jonathan Quick, Nick Bonino, Tyler Pitlick and Erik Gustafsson being added to bolster the depth of this team, another way that the Rangers organization can look for additions can come right from their own prospect pool, as they have a couple of rookies who could impress at camp, and be able to do something that many players dream of, make the team right out of camp.
Brennan Othmann
Othmann is viewed as a top 2 prospect for the New York Rangers, ranked right next to newly drafted Gabriel Perrault. Othmann, who was selected 16th overall by the Rangers back in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, has turned himself into a player that shines the brightest when the game is on the line, shown this past OHL playoffs as Othmann was able to help the Peterborough Petes win their very first OHL championship since 2006, and he had no small part on this championship winning team, where he was able to lead the Petes in points scoring 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 23 games. This season he is expected to be playing with the Rangers AHL affiliate the Hartford Wolfpack as a leading contributor to a Wolfpack team that just saw their first playoff berth since the 2014-2015 AHL season. However, I do think that the Rangers should be keeping a close eye on him during training camp as he does have a good chance to make the roster and give the Rangers a fresh young face, and if he does not make it right out of camp, it shouldn’t be a long wait until we see Othmann in a Rangers jersey.
Will Cuylle
Will Cuylle, a second round pick by the Rangers back in 2020, has seen a small amount of games with the Rangers this past season, suiting up for only 4 games. Even with this little time in the league Cuylle would show that he was not afraid to scrap it up as he would see 2 fights in these 4 games, but that is about all he would do in his small sample size as he would score no points and end up with a -2. However this is nothing for fans to worry about as when he went back to the Wolfpack, he was able to be a key contributor during the season as he would put 25 goals and 20 assists for 45 points in 69 games, and during the playoffs he would put up 3 points in 9 games as his presence and his gritty style of play was able to help the Wolfpack make it to the second round of the AHL playoffs. For Cuylle, and his style of gritty and defensive play he could be a very strong dark horse to make this Rangers roster out of camp.
Ty Emberson
With the Rangers defensive core being pretty much set in stone there may not be a chance for a rookie player to make the roster out of the camp, however if there was a case to be made for someone to get an opportunity on this roster, it should be Ty Emberson. The 23 year old found his way to the Rangers organization when they shipped off Patrick Nemeth to the Arizona Coyotes in an offseason deal last July. Since the Emberson has really found his footing for the Wolfpack this season where he was able to contribute 27 points in 69 games for the Wolfpack, but he is not brought in to make goals happen, he is there to stop goals from going in. While under head coach Kris Knoblach, Emberson was able to become a top defensive defenseman for the Wolfpack even bringing home the award for the AHL East’s best defensive defenseman for the 2022-2023. This is something that the whole Rangers organization wants to see as a main issue for the Rangers defensive core, besides the likes of Ryan Lindgren, is a stay at home defenseman who will look to shut down any scoring attempts by the opposing team, and that is exactly what Ty Emberson is all about.
With a majority of this Rangers roster set in stone on paper, there will be some difficulty with any prospects making the team right out of camp. However if these 3 prospects show the Rangers coaching staff that they work hard through training camp, play well through the pre-season games that they are put into and show that they can make an impact right out the gate, they should absolutely be given the chance to start with the NHL club right away.
Caden Balint is a graduate of La Salle Institute in Troy, NY and Merrimack College in North Andover, MA and has been in love with sports forever. Whether it is watching, playing, writing, sports have always been a passion. Getting the chance to start his dream of sports journalism with Stream Punk is just the start of a long journey. In his spare time Caden enjoys playing hockey, spending time with his loved ones and playing video games but you will soon get to know him a lot more!