25 becomes 24

...as the Rangers bid a fond farewell to "wait, he was still at camp?" forward Pierre "P.A." Parenteau, reassigned to Hartford this afternoon. See you next September, or at least for some random Western Conference game sometime in February, P.A.

Meanwhile, that leaves us with the following roster:

Centers: Anisimov, Boyle, Drury, Dubinsky, Grachev, Prospal
Right Wings: Callahan, Gaborik, Kotalik, Lisin
Left Wings: Avery, Brashear, Higgins, Voros
Defensemen: Del Zotto, Gilroy, Girardi, Redden, Rozsival, Sanguinetti, Semenov, Staal
Goalies: Lundqvist, Valiquette

14 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 2 goalies, with one more cut to be made before opening night: almost certainly a defenseman. With Gilroy, Girardi, Redden, Rozsival, and Staal basically being guaranteed opening night roster spots, that leaves Del Zotto, Sanguinetti, and Semenov to provide us the one of these 24 men who won't still be a New York Ranger 10 days from now. I'm guessing Semenov is gonna make the cut, because he's bigger and older, and Del Zotto and Sanguinetti fill more similar roles to each other. Which of these two gets cut is unclear: Torts seemed to have more of an affinity for Del Zotto early, but it could go either way. Having seen neither of them play for any time at all, I have no strong opinions on the matter.

So, with our 14 forwards and 7 defensemen almost decided, we can start to play the Opening Night Lineup game! I mean, I'm not going to play, right now. But you should! Leave an opening night lineup - 4 offensive lines and 3 defensive pairings - in the comments. For argument's sake, we'll include Avery (even though he'll probably realistically sit that night) and call it an "ideal injury-free opening night lineup." On defense, you can even include "Del Zotto/Sanguinetti" as one person representing whichever one of them makes it. For extra credit, feel free to submit an Avery-less roster as well. Explanations of why you felt the way you felt are appreciated, and partial credit will be given.

In a few days, when I'm bored at work and no one has commented at all, maybe I'll play too.