David Quinn met with the media on Tuesday and said (NYR):

• On Kakko playing on the top-line, “that’s just temporary, just for tomorrow. Don’t read into that.”
• Are you interested in seeing him in that role, “I’m curious to see him in an NHL game. It’s nice for him to play with those two guys. As you guys have seen, over the course of a lot of exhibition games there are a lot of different line combinations and I know we all want to read into all of it but Buchie is going right back with those two guys.”
• So why did you decide to do it, “why not? It’s just trying people in different positions and…not everyone is going to play in all of the exhibition games and…we wanted to get Kakko in an NHL game.”
• What have you seen from Kakko, “it almost confirms what we already know about him. He’s an elite talent, he’s played against pro players, his transition has been a little easier than guys coming out of major junior or college hockey and he’s probably a little bit more pro ready.”
• Why do you think Brady Skjei is a top-pair guy, “he’s done it a bunch of times in his career and I thought he had a much better second half than first half, we’ve talked an awful lot about that. I think he’s in a great mindset, it doesn’t hurt that Trouba is here, they have a great relationship on and off the ice. He’s at that age where it’s time for him to do it on a consistent basis and I feel confident that he will do it on a consistent basis.”
• On Skjei’s mindset, “I thought he was in a better place at the end of last year and I think he feels really good about his summer and where he’s at mentally, the contract is behind him. I think he is in a much better place mentally.”
• On forward depth, “when you add players of that talent your lineup gets longer and better and people feel more confident. Back to Brady, I think Brady feels better because Trouba’s here and feels better about our D corp in general. I think everyone feels better when you add a good player and puts them at ease and in a better position to have success.”
• On where it’s best for young players, “it depends who the person is. There are some guys who can’t handle that, it’s all up to the individual, every situation is different. It’s hard to give a blanket answer, it’s hard to answer because every situation is different. Some players you can say they would be better off in Hartford, some players are better off here. It’s case by case.”
• On Vitali Kravtsov so far, “he’s definitely in the mix and I really like his progression. He’s made strides while he was out in Traverse City. I thought he got off to a little bit of a slow start but as the tournament went on he got better and better and I think you can say the same thing about training camp. He’s getting acclimated to the North American pace, it’s different hockey than he is used to but the thing I love about him, he’s very coachable, he wants to learn. You say something to him and he absorbs it and learns it and he’s done a good job and I like the direction he’s going in.”
• Do you want Kravtsov playing consistently somewhere, “I need to get to know him better, as I get more familiar coaching him I’ll get a clearer picture after another week to ten days.”
• On the preseason and roster competition, “the competition is real. I said to our guys before training camp that they would be hard pressed to find another training camp in our league that has more opportunity than ours. Not just from the making the roster standpoint but putting yourself in a spot on the roster. These games mean an awful lot and we are looking forward to seeing what they can do against another opponent.”
• Do you know how many games each guy will play, “not really, we have a ballpark idea. Injuries weigh into it. We have an idea but nothing concrete.”
• On the goalie plan for tomorrow, “we will probably see both of them tomorrow.”
• On Shesterkin so far, “I’m pleased with his progress, Ben loves coaching him. I love how he competes and again, it is a learning curve for a goalie since the angles are different, the rink is different. There is a big adjustment for a goalie and he has handled it well and progressed.”

The Rangers have announced that the following players will play against New Jersey in tomorrow’s preseason opener:

• Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Kaapo Kakko
• Chris Kreider, Lias Andersson, Vitali Kravtsov
• Greg McKegg, Danny O’Regan, Nick Jones
• Micheal Haley, Boo Nieves, Jake Elmer
  • Defense
• Brady Skjei, Jacob Trouba
• Libor Hajek, Adam Fox
• Brandon Crawley, Brendan Smith
  • Goalies:
• Alex Georgiev, Igor Shesterkin

Adam Rotter: This is quite the star studded lineup to open the preseason. While the major focus up front is, understandably, Kaapo Kakko being on the right side with Panarin and Zibanejad, the player I’m most eager to see will be Lias Andersson. He’s between Kreider and Kravtsov and will have an opportunity to show that not only he deserves to be in the NHL but in the NHL in the middle and, probably, in the top-nine. He had a quick start in training camp last year with a few goals but ended up falling behind Brett Howden on the depth chart and starting the year in Hartford. Regarding Kakko in that spot, I think it’s probably still Pavel Buchnevich’s to start the year and that the practice groups are being flipped a bit to allow the coaches a different look at certain players.

On defense, I’m eager to see Fox but also Libor Hajek build upon his five game stretch from last season. Georgiev and Shesterkin will probably split the game as the Rangers inch closer to the start of the 2019-20 regular season.

David Quinn met with the media on Monday and said (NYR):

• On the scrimmage, “Some guys that played well, thought Fox played well, Kakko played well, Chytil played well. Chytil has had a good camp. Boo Nieves had a good day, some good performances.”
• On Joey Keane, “he has a lot of great qualities about him, I love his skating, he’s strong. As you get older as a defenseman a lot of guys that are gifted offensively and they are offensive defenseman, he’s still finding his way as who he is going to be at our level. He’s certainly a great prospect for us but a lot of things to like about Joey.”
• Does he have an opportunity, “there is definitely a chance for him for sure because of the situation we are in.”
• On Mika Zibanejad this year, “he has started very well, built off what he established last year. Everyone talks about the changes he made as a player and his off-ice conditioning has certainly reflected his performance on the ice and I think he has brought that to another level this year.”
• On Mika being a leader, “he has a great demeanor about him, he is an emotional guy on the ice but when there is some adversity, good or bad, he has a great way about him to keep it even-keeled. It’s a great trait to have in a long hockey season.”
• On Libor Hajek, “he played five really good games for us last year. His skating, his quick decision making, physical on pucks. He has picked up where he left off. It was too bad he got hurt last year because I thought he did a really good job. The injury set him back a little bit but he is 100% healthy and looks just as good as he did last year when he played those give games.”

The Rangers have announced that the following players have been cut from training camp and assigned to the:

• AHL: Goalies: Tom McCollum* & Francois Brassard**, Forwards: Ryan Gropp, Ville Meskanen, Ty Ronning
• OHL: Defensemen: Nico Gross (Oshawa) & Hunter Skinner (London)

*Player is on AHL contract

**Player is on ECHL contract

The Rangers have 48 players remaining in training camp:

• Forward (27 Players): Lias Andersson, Connor Brickley*, Pavel Buchnevich, Filip Chytil, Phillip Di Giuseppe, Jake Elmer, Jesper Fast, Steven Fogarty, Gabriel Fontaine, Tim Gettinger, Michael Haley*, Brett Howden, Nick Jones, Kaapo Kakko, Vitali Kravtsov, Chris Kreider, Dawson Leedahl, Brendan Lemieux, Vinni Lettieri, Greg McKegg, Vlad Namestnikov, Patrick Newell, Boo Nieves, Danny O’Regan, Artemi Panarin, Ryan Strome, Mika Zibanejad.
• Defense (17 Players): Brandon Crawley, Sean Day, Adam Fox, Mason Geertsen* Libor Hajek, Joey Keane, Ryan Lindgren, Vincent LoVerde^, Joe Morrow*, Darren Raddysh, Tarmo Reunanen, Matthew Robertson, Yegor Rykov, Brady Skjei, Brendan Smith, Marc Staal, Jacob Trouba
• Goalies (4 Players): Alex Georgiev, Adam Huska, Henrik Lundqvist, , Igor Shesterkin

^=AHL Contract
*=Professional Tryout

Tony DeAngelo is not listed on the Rangers most current training camp roster. He was listed in their initial release

Rangers coach David Quinn met with the media on Sunday and said (NYR):

• How is camp different this year, “I think the familiarity between the coaches and players and expectations are already understood, especially from the veterans that were here last year. It makes it easier to hit the ground running.”
• On Chytil taking another step, “after talking to him and just looking at him and the way he is carrying himself, he certainly seems like he is ready for the next level and what that level may be, we will find out, but he looks different, acts different, more mature. During the 1 on 1 drills yesterday, Brady Skjei said to me halfway through, ‘boy is Fil a lot stronger than he was last year.’ With that comes confidence and this a game where you have to have confidence but confidence is earned and you just don’t give it to people and I’ve said that before. All the hard work Fil put in over the summer has given him more confidence.”
• Is Chytil ready for that responsibility, “the opportunity, he is earning the responsibility but I also want to give him an opportunity to cash in on his hard work and all the results we have seen the last 4-5 months.”
• What have you seen from Panarin, “he works really hard, I like his work ethic. He always has a smile on his face, very coachable, very receptive. You tell him something once and he does it, when you have a guy of that stature, with the success he has had in this league that acts the way he does, it bodes well for us not only on the ice but off the ice.”
• What have you seen from Trouba, “he comes as advertised, he can shoot it, he can pass it. He has a mean streak to him, there is no nonsense to his game and it’s no mystery why he has had success in this league.”
• How does Trouba impact the group, “what he is going to do for us, our D corp should feel better about itself because guys are going to be put in a position for success. Maybe last year we were asking guys to do too much and now I think that Trouba gives us an opportunity to put people in a position to succeed. It’s amazing what one guy can do for that position.”
• On the third spot on left defense, “There are a bunch guys fighting for that position. Libor was here last year and had some opportunity. Crawley has had success within our organization. I don’t want to start naming a bunch of guys but there is an opportunity for a bunch of guys to make the team and contribute. Lindgren was up here last year. There is certainly an opportunity for these guys.”
• On Shesterkin being run-over twice, “he’s well protected, a lot of equipment on, wasn’t too worried.”
• Do you like that they are driving to the net, “I like that they are going in.”