Rangers take on Islanders in preseason opener What to watch for in opening tilt

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2016-11-25 NHL PHI vs NYR
Defenseman Ryan McDonagh (#27)

NEW YORK (NY) – With the Vegas Golden Knights beating the Vancouver Canucks 9-4 the other night, the 2017-18 NHL season is officially here. Tonight, the New York Rangers hit the ice for the first time this season. With many off season moves, trades and draft picks, this years pre season gives Rangers fans some new story lines to follow.

Who: New York Rangers vs. New York Islanders

Where: Madison Square Garden

When: 7pm

Where to watch: MSG Network, NHL Network

W2W4: General Manager Jeff Gorton made many moves in the offseason to help improve the Rangers in the short and long term. Rather than a “rebuild” the Rangers seem to be making changes on-the-fly. Tonight, some of those new additions will dawn the Ranger blue for the first time in their career.

THE NEW GUYS PLAYING TONIGHT:

(Jersey number, player, how they were acquired)

  • (23) Bobby Farnham (signed to a PTO on August 22nd)
  • (25) Andrew Desjardins (signed to a PTO on September 13th)
  • (28) Paul Carey (signed as free agent July 1st)
  • (29) Cole Schneider (signed as free agent July 1st)
  • (31) Newly acquired backup goalie Ondrej Pavelec will make his debut as the starting goalie tonight
  • (44) Neal Pionk (signed May 1st as NCAA free agent)
  • (50) Lias Andersson (picked 1st round, 7th overall with Arizona’s pick acquired in the aforementioned trade).
  • (77)* Tony Deangelo (acquired in a trade with the Arizona Coyotes that included a first round pick in exchange for NYR Derek Stepan and Annti Raanta)
  • (95) Vinni Lettieri (signed March 27th as NCAA free agent)

*Dont worry, Deangelo reached out to Esposito before he got the #77 stitched on.

The biggest name from the group of new guys has to be Swedish born Lias Andersson, their first round, 7th overall pick. Andersson was the Rangers first, first round pick since 2012 when they drafted defenseman Brady Skjei. Playing in New York only increases the hype for a young stud so it will be great to see how he plays tonight. It looks like he’ll be between Pavel Buchnevich and Michael Grabner.

According to New York Daily News Rangers beat writer Justin Tasch, the blueshirts will go with the following defense pairings…

It seems as if only the top-4 defense spots are locked in, with Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Shattenkirk, Brendan Smith and Skjei the early pack leaders. Veteran Marc Staal and Nick Holden know they have to fight for their spot on the roster, so there looks to be some healthy competition this pre season. Tonight we get to see Pionk and Deangelo get major minutes with already established NHL defensemen so we’ll see if they can show some offensive side with defensive responsibility.

Follow Danny Jones on Twitter: @Danny_PJones

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