According to Andrew
Gross, the Rangers are going to use the NHL All-Star break as a chance to
allow many of the recent recalled players to go back to the Connecticut Whale
and continue playing. Here is what he
had to say during his recap of last night's loss:
Defenseman Michael Del Zotto and forwards Evgeny Grachev, Brodie Dupont, Chad Kolarik and Kris Newbury will be rejoining Connecticut tomorrow. Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi are expected back for the Rangers home game against the Penguins Tuesday but there will likely be some forwards brought back to the NHL club.
This move is the right one for the present and future
of all the individual players and the organization. Players like Del Zotto and Grachev are at a
stage where they need to play as many games and minutes as possible. Both of these players looked better than they
did the last time they were up with the Rangers, but there is still significant
work ahead for them to be here regularly.
Del Zotto is certainly closer than Grachev to reaching that marker, but
the defense also has significantly less injuries at the moment and all six that
are here have clearly outperformed him.
Along with the moves to send these five back to the
AHL, the New York Rangers also activated Ryan Callahan and Vinny Prospal from
IR. The news on Callahan is that he is
expected to be back for the game against the Penguins, which will be a huge
lift to the club. Dan Girardi is also
expected to be back after missing the last two games with a rib injury.
The news on Propsal is less clear as it has seemed to
be all season. The reason for the
activation seems to be the Rangers needing a 20th player on the
active roster in order to send all five players back to Connecticut and not
because he is that close to returning.
The news on Prospal is encouraging, but do not expect him to be in the
lineup on Tuesday as many originally surmised from the news he was being
activated.
As Gross said, some of these players will likely be
back before the team plays its next game on Tuesday against the Penguins, but
do not expect them all to return. If
Callahan is the only Rangers forward to return to the lineup after this break
than I would expect Newbury to definitely return with the other spot likely
going to Kolarik. I do not see the need
to carry an extra young player as a scratch consistently when they can play in
the AHL and continue their development.
Any players that are going to be recalled will likely
happen either on Sunday or Monday.
