Anthony DeAngelo made the roster, and seemingly made the opening-night lineup.
The Rangers are set to start their new 21-year-old defenseman on the right side of the third defensive pair with Marc Staal when they play their season opener Thursday night against the Avalanche at the Garden. DeAngelo is with his third NHL team in three years and came to the Rangers in an offseason trade with the Coyotes that sent Derek Stepan to the desert.
DeAngelo beat out Neal Pionk for the spot on the roster then beat out veterans Steven Kampfer and Nick Holden for spots in the first lineup of the season. The top two pairs will be Ryan McDonagh-Kevin Shattenkirk and Brady Skjei-Brendan Smith.
The opening forward lines are set to be Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich, Rick Nash-Filip Chytil-Mats Zuccarello, Michael Grabner-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller and Jimmy Vesey-David Desharnais-Paul Carey.
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Winger Jesper Fast took part in his second straight full practice, losing the non-contact jersey he had been wearing after offseason hip surgery. Fast remains on track to return in late October, and now the focus is just getting his conditioning and timing back.
“So far, so good,” Fast said, having first fully joined the team Monday for practice in Lake Placid.
Coach Alain Vigneault always has been an adamant Fast supporter and is looking forward to getting him back.
“So is it two [weeks], three?” Vigneault said. “The doctors will let us know.”
Veteran center Andrew Desjardins remained with the team on his professional tryout and can do so until he either decides to leave or the team decides he’s no longer wanted.
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“As long as he wants to be around and we say he can be around, he can be,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “For us, it’s sort of an insurance policy right now. If he gets a better offer, obviously we’re going to let him go. At this time, we seem to be his best option right now.”
The team has nine games to evaluate 18-year-old center Chytil before the first year of his entry-level deal kicks in, so that is one big reason Desjardins is sticking around.
Always a vocal New York sports fan since coming here in 2013, Vigneault opened and closed his press conference Wednesday with the same line.
“Let’s go Yankees, eh?” he said. “Good luck to them.”