Preseason starts tomorrow

Or, as Rick Carpiniello of the Lower Hudson Journal's Rangers Report put it, "One More Day 'til a Hockey Game."

Apparently the first roster cuts from training camp, which Steve Zipay reports will be "major," will occur either Friday night or Saturday morning, after the Rangers have played their first two preseason games (both against the Devils, tomorrow night in Albany and Friday night at the Rock). So, we'll look for that.

Meanwhile, while the lines haven't been announced (and will likely be pretty fluid), here's the lineup for tomorrow night's game:

Forwards: Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, Erik Christensen, Brandon Dubinsky, Dale Weise, Andre Deveaux, John Mitchell, Ryan Bourque, Carl Hagelin, Shane McColgan, J.T. Miller, Christian Thomas

Defensemen: Michael Del Zotto, Steve Eminger, Dan Girardi, Brendan Bell, Tim Erixon, Dylan McIlrath

Goalies: Henrik Lundqvist, Cam Talbot

A lot more big-name players in this lineup than I expected, which is exciting (it'd be more exciting if I could see the game). I like that Lundqvist is getting an early warmup (he'd previously said he'd probably play 3 to 3.5 preseason games, and I like starting early). It also seems like a real opportunity for some of the more lauded kids (Hagelin, Thomas, Erixon) to play with the big boys. If I were pressed to read way too much into this lineup, I'd say it's an early tell as to which kids are gonna get more serious consideration for this roster, since they're the ones the staff is gonna want to see a lot of. Putting them out there with people like Dubinsky and Girardi is the best way to see what they're made of at the NHL level.

In other news, Sean Avery had better have a great game tomorrow night. With Wolski reportedly making magic on the top line with Richards and Gaborik, Avery probably loses what I thought was his best spot on the roster. Christensen apparently had an unremarkable camp until today, when he scored 2 goals in scrimmage. (Him? Inconsistent? Weeeeeeird.) If Wolski earns the top left wing spot, the top 6 starting forwards are clearly he, Richards and Gaborik, followed by Dubinsky, Anisimov, and Callahan. That leaves the bottom 6 spots, of which three are all but guaranteed to Boyle, Prust, and Stepan, with a 4th and 5th likely Fedotenko's and Rupp's to lose. That puts Christensen solidly on a healthy list of people Avery will have to outplay to earn the final regular roster spot.

Fortunately, there's a reason Scotty Hockey unrelentingly calls Christensen "Mr. Softie the Backstabber." Despite his apparent scoring talent, Christensen is eminently outplayable. Still, anything can happen, and that roster spot could easily go to Carl Hagelin or Mats Zuccarello or Christian Thomas or something, too. It's all up in the air. That's what makes it fun, right?

Here's the point: Someone please make Marc Staal's head get better.