The Rangers will open the 2023-24 season in Pittsburgh with three rookies on their roster.
Matt Rempe, Adam Edstrom and Victor Mancini officially made the Blueshirts out of training camp for the first time in all three of their respective careers.
The three youngsters were officially recalled from the Wolf Pack on Tuesday.
The Rangers subsequently sent Anton Blidh, Ben Harpur, Jake Leschyshyn, Matthew Robertson and Adam Sykora — five players who were recalled strictly as a paper transaction — back to Hartford.
Will Cuylle was also assigned to Hartford as a paper move, but the second-year Ranger was also recalled with the aforementioned rookies.
Rempe and Edstrom were front-runners to claim final lineup spots, but Mancini was a pleasant surprise this training camp.
Not only did Mancini score two goals this preseason, but the 6-foot-3 defenseman impressed head coach Peter Laviolette in practices with the varsity group.
Mancini earned a few reps alongside No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox in Ryan Lindgren’s injury absence, as well.
Lindgren going on injured reserve and Jimmy Vesey going on long-term injured reserve opened the door for Edstrom and Mancini to make the roster.
The rookies will now be charged with helping open a now-or-never season for this Rangers core.
“I think there’s an expectation,” Laviolette said of the Rangers season on Monday. “There was last year, and probably before I got here, for this team to be successful. And then, ultimately, you have to go and build that through the regular season. You have to do the work. You’ve got to put yourself in a position to have a good regular season. To carry that into the playoffs. I don’t think any of that changes. I don’t know if it’s necessarily pressure. I think that’s what we expect.
“That’s what we want to achieve here in New York. But that hasn’t changed, I don’t think. And so it’s still, got to keep moving forward, we’ve got to take more steps. There’s some good things that we did, but we got to take more steps. I think that’s where everybody’s heads at.”
Brett Berard was assigned to Hartford on Monday, but the 22-year-old will certainly remain in Rangers management’s minds this season.
“He made an impression on everybody,” Laviolette said of Berard. “It’s the way he works and the way he competes. You see him out here mixed in with a full NHL team, and he looks really good. It’s his speed, it’s his tenacity. His ability to make plays. A first-year player to go down there and lead the team in goals, I think he had 25 — that’s not an easy thing to do in your first year.
“He had a good year and then he followed it through with a good summer, came to camp in shape. He’s made a really good impression. I think any time you’re up here, you’re benefiting from practices where you’re playing against higher competition at a different pace and a different speed.
“He was good, Mancini the same thing. I think he’s just looked good when all the guys are out on the ice. They still look like they belong.”
