Rangers keep Matt Rempe, place Dylan Garand on waivers to finalize Opening Night roster
Matt Rempe of the Rangers in action against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 8. Credit: Getty Images
The nor’easter that hammered the Northeast over the weekend knocked out power in the area surrounding the Rangers’ training center in Westchester, so the team canceled practice Sunday. The power outage didn’t prevent the Rangers from doing business, though. On Sunday, they placed goalie Dylan Garand and forward Taylor Raddysh on waivers, effectively setting their roster for opening night in Boston on Tuesday.
Matt Rempe, the 6-9 forward and fan favorite, appears to have earned a spot on the fourth line.
The moves leave the Rangers with 24 players on the roster. This includes injured defenseman Vincent Iorio, who either will go on injured reserve or be waived before Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline to meet the 23-player maximum.
There had been some intrigue regarding who would be among the final cuts. Most of the roster was obvious throughout training camp, but there were battles between Rempe, Jaroslav Chmelar and Raddysh for the fourth-line right-wing spot and between Garand and Joonas Korpisalo for the backup goalie job.
There also was a question of whether the Rangers would keep 18-year-old defenseman Alberts Smits, their first-round draft pick. If so, it was expected that they’d have to expose either Matthew Robertson or Scott Morrow to waivers.
They didn’t, though. Despite the fact that both Smits and Chmelar were waivers-exempt, they kept both. and they held on to Robertson and Morrow by choosing to keep eight defensemen (for now). They kept Rempe and settled on Korpisalo as Igor Shesterkin’s backup, choosing to risk putting Garand, 24, on waivers. On Saturday, they lost defenseman William Trudeau, who was claimed off waivers by Nashville.
“We’re aware of who needs waivers [and] who doesn’t,” coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday when asked if players’ waiver eligibility would factor into the roster decisions. “But my job as the head coach is to do everything within our power as the coaching staff to . . . try to put the best roster together that gives us the best chance to win.”
Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand protects the net against the Winnipeg Jets in the second period of an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on March 22. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Garand, a fourth-round draft pick in 2020 who played for AHL Hartford the last four seasons, looked good in a three-game audition with the Rangers at the end of last season. He had hoped to take over for the retired Jonathan Quick as Shesterkin’s backup. Instead, general manager Chris Drury traded for Korpisalo over the summer.
Korpisalo and Garand each played one full game in the preseason, both against the Devils. Garand lost, 3-2, to a nearly full-strength Devils lineup. Korpisalo beat a group of mostly AHLers, 4-3, in a shootout. After his game, Garand said, “I’m proud of myself for competing.’’
Waiving Garand is a gamble because if he is claimed, the Rangers will be left with journeyman Spencer Martin as their emergency call-up if Shesterkin or Korpisalo gets hurt.
Raddysh had a goal in his only preseason game, but it wasn’t enough to convince the Rangers to keep him. They preferred to keep the 6-9 Rempe and 6-5 Chmelar instead.
The roster isn’t official yet, and it currently doesn’t include an extra forward who can step in if one of their four centers — Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, Noah Laba and Joe Veleno — is injured. The Rangers could claim a center off waivers if they see one they like or make a trade.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
More Rangers
