Yesteday the team trimmed the camp roster to 32 players, with at least nine more players destined to be heading to the minors over the coming days. Yet a handful of players remain with the big team practicing ahead of Saturday’s preseason finale in Bridgeport, where a number of the ones who miss the roster will get one last chance to impress.
Among the remainders is first year NHL contractee Tarmo Reunanen who saw one preseason game, the first one, a 4-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils in which he acquitted himself relatively well.
The chances of making the team out of camp were always long for the Finn, who signed his first contract three years after being drafted in the fourth round. The 21 year old looked composed with the puck, although still has some work to do on the defensive end, particularly on the smaller North American rinks.
With much of the Rangers defense on the younger end of the scale, Reunanen will need to stand out to make an impression, but with Marc Staal and Tony DeAngelo both up for new contracts at the end of the season, there’s a window of opportunity next summer for him to make his case.
He’ll also get one more chance to impress when they play that final game against the Islanders, when coach David Quinn will look to give several of the borderline players a roster spot ahead of the season opener next Thursday.