00:01Wednesday was the first unofficial day of training camp for the Rangers and we
00:05got a chance to catch up with president and general manager Chris Jury as well
00:09as head coach Mike Sullivan. We chatted for about 20 minutes so bear with me as
00:14I try to cover everything you'll want to know heading into the first on ice
00:17session on Thursday. Aside from Cole Beaudoin and Aiden Thompson, everyone else
00:22is healthy and ready to go for preseason. Beaudoin is day-to-day and Aiden
00:26Thompson is week-to-week with undisclosed injuries. The shortened training camp
00:30schedule was a hot topic today and Sullivan said it changes things
00:34significantly for the team. Not only are there 13 fewer players on the roster
00:39than last year but the Rangers only have 12 days to make all their decisions and
00:44shave the roster down to at most 23 players. There are only four exhibition
00:49games down two from the usual six and only six practice days that don't include a
00:54game at night. The opening night against Boston we have 12 days. We have four
01:01exhibition games and two days off built into those 12 days.
01:05So if you take away that time we essentially have
01:0910 practices, six when they're not including a game that night.
01:16So time is of the essence. We thought long and hard about this going through our
01:22coaches meetings a month or so ago and building this thing out and what we
01:26thought made the most sense. So we're going to try to
01:29we're going to get after we're going to get after the team concept right away
01:33start to instill concepts from day one starting tomorrow
01:38and then still try to accomplish what we always try to accomplish in training camp
01:42and that is to get the team ready for game one and provide opportunities for
01:46people to to show what they can do. It forces all of us to have to
01:52prioritize what we do every day
01:57and and as a part of that I think just in the conversations that we had with
02:03with Chris and his staff and and my coaching staff and trying to
02:07put our heads together to put this thing this whole thing together
02:12you know it forces all of us to prioritize and I just think
02:16you know the players that are here are the guys that are
02:19the closest to playing for the New York Rangers and so
02:24from that standpoint and it's a necessity just because of the time constraints.
02:29So time is really of the essence. Both Drury and Sullivan feel like the
02:34organization's depth is very much improved after a busy offseason.
02:38Well we're excited with the moves we made. We said that in you know in June and in July we
02:42made last spoke and you know I think we we addressed a lot of things in the offseason
02:47you know we had a number of boxes we wanted to check. We looked at a lot of different things
02:51my staff, Sully's staff, Sully and I and feel like we're in a pretty good spot to get off to
02:55a good start
02:57and a lot a lot of changes a lot of excitement in the building not just
03:00you know on Ranger acquisitions but prospects that are here trying to put the best foot forward so
03:06I'm excited about what we've done and where we're at and ready to get going.
03:09And as for some of the new faces, Sullivan said we should expect to see Pavel Dorfaev
03:14skating on both wings in training camp as they work to figure out where the best fit is.
03:19Their fifth overall pick this summer Albert Smits is also participating in his first Rangers training
03:25camp and Sullivan said he very much does have a chance to make the roster but both Drury and
03:30Sullivan have expressed a desire to do right by Smits and his development so I wouldn't assume
03:35anything just yet. Sullivan did say that quote unquote in the big picture the sooner that Smits
03:40becomes part of our roster the better but I think barring an outrageous pre-season performance from
03:46Smits that helped probably start the season in Hartford. To me the most intriguing roster battle of
03:51camp is for the backup goalie position. Rookie Dylan Garand and veteran Junis Corposalo will be going toe to
03:58toe this week for the right to play behind Igor Shosturkin. Backup goalie is obviously an important
04:04position but since both Garand and Corposalo require waivers to be sent to Hartford, the Rangers risk
04:10losing one or the other for nothing. So that's what makes this battle even more important. And last but
04:16not least I asked Drury if there was any inclination to approach Gabe Perreault or any of their other young
04:21players before the old CBA expired on Wednesday to see if there was a maximum eight-year deal to be
04:27made.
04:27But as usual he declined to get into specifics regarding player contracts and negotiations.
04:33The new CBA reduces the maximum contract term to seven years for players re-signing with their current team.
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