The Rangers go into tomorrow’s preseason opener against the Islanders with a very inexperienced line-up. Only 14 of the 20 players have NHL experience including try-outs Andrew Desjardins and Bobby Farnham. Of the 14, only 6 were regulars with the Rangers last year including Pavel Buchnevich, Michael Grabner, Nick Holden, Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller and Rick Nash.
Veteran AHLers Cole Schneider and Paul Carey will get their first looks, as will fellow off-season acquisitions defenseman Anthony DeAngelo – acquired in the Derek Stepan / Antti Raanta trade, and Ondrej Pavelec, who will start in goal.
Rangers fans will also get their first good look at 2017 first round pick Lias Andersson. The young Swede is someone the Rangers could use at center, a spot they trying to fill by moving Miller off the wing. Also keep an eye on Nieves who played just one game in the NHL last year, after having a solid camp one year ago.
The projected lines for Game 1:
Carey – Miller – Nash
Grabner – Andersson – Buchnevich
Farnham – Nieves – Lettieri
Schneider – Desjardins – Fontaine
McDonagh – Pionk
Holden – DeAngelo
Day – Zborovskiy
Pavelec
Halverson
CAR
PHI
PIT
WSH
CBJ
NYI