Earlier than coaching camp each season, most NHL groups herald gamers on skilled tryout (PTO) offers to see if these gamers may need one thing so as to add to their workforce. For the New York Rangers, they did this two seasons in the past with Jimmy Vesey and he has labored out very effectively for them. There are nonetheless loads of free brokers obtainable, however listed below are three, specifically, who the Rangers ought to contemplate bringing in on a PTO this September.
James van Riemsdyk
Final season, James van Riemsdyk signed a one-year take care of the Boston Bruins. He performed effectively, scoring 11 objectives and 38 factors in 71 video games performed. Now, whereas he won’t be as nice of a objective scorer or be as efficient as he was once, JVR can nonetheless present worth to any workforce that wants some good depth scoring. He was not signed as a free agent this summer time and can now be on the lookout for any alternative he can get because the 2024-25 season will get nearer.
For the Rangers, he might match effectively in a third-line position and will nonetheless be in a top-six position if wanted to play there as a consequence of accidents. He additionally performs very effectively in entrance of the web, much like Chris Kreider. He could be a great web entrance choice on the second power-play unit. Whereas it could possibly be seen that JVR could be taking a chance away from one of many Rangers’ youthful gamers, the Rangers are in a win-now mindset and wish gamers with expertise greater than they want rookies. JVR is the perfect offensive choice left in the marketplace and they need to contemplate giving him a PTO.
Kevin Labanc
After taking part in on the worst workforce within the league the previous few seasons as a member of the San Jose Sharks, Kevin Labanc is a free agent and has not been signed as of this writing. This isn’t completely surprising as a result of his offensive numbers took an enormous dive final season. He went from scoring 15 objectives and 33 factors in 72 video games in the course of the 2022-23 season to simply two objectives and 9 factors in 46 video games final season. He was as soon as seen as a future star for the Sharks, however he didn’t match with the workforce throughout this rebuild and now, he’s on the lookout for a brand new NHL house.
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Labanc remains to be solely 28 years outdated and given a chance on a brand new, aggressive workforce, he might really thrive in that kind of setting. For the Rangers, he would as soon as once more present some first rate bottom-six scoring and he additionally has the power to play with proficient gamers, like he did throughout his early days with the Sharks. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, so bringing him in on a PTO could be a homecoming for him. He’s a participant that’s prone to be seen as a reclamation challenge and given the correct scenario, he could possibly be very impactful for any workforce that offers him an opportunity.
Kevin Shattenkirk
Whereas this one appears probably the most unlikely given how the connection between the workforce and participant ended, bringing in Kevin Shattenkirk on a PTO could be a pleasant gesture by the Rangers. It looks as if ceaselessly in the past that he was a Ranger, however he was the large free agent signing in 2017 and he solely wished to come back to New York and he even gave them a reduction. Nonetheless, accidents and being mismanaged by two totally different head coaches noticed Shattenkirk’s time with the workforce come to an abrupt finish in the summertime of 2019. Simply two years into his four-year deal, he was purchased out and went on to signal with and win a Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
He spent final season with the Boston Bruins, scoring six objectives and 24 factors in 61 video games performed. He nonetheless has not signed with a workforce and at 35 years outdated, his profession is slowly coming to a detailed. The Rangers don’t essentially have to deliver him in as a result of they’ve 4 right-handed defensemen on their projected NHL roster in Adam Fox, Jacob Trouba, Braden Schneider and Chad Ruhwedel. Nonetheless, giving him a PTO would add some extra competitors in coaching camp and it will be good to see him in his hometown workforce’s jersey yet another time so he can have a correct sendoff.
Whereas these aren’t the largest and finest names in the marketplace, they will nonetheless present one thing to the Rangers if given an opportunity. Giving them a PTO doesn’t imply you have to signal them, it simply permits them to point out each workforce that they will nonetheless contribute at an NHL stage. It gained’t damage the Rangers in any respect to provide these gamers a PTO and to see how they carry out and compete with the opposite gamers in coaching camp.
