HEY GUESS WHAT HOCKEY

February 7, huh? I guess that was a while ago? Look, some shit happened, I bought a house, don't even worry about it. Here's the point. Because I'm a spoiled good-job-having individual in these bullshit economic times, I now have a magical service known as satellite television. Have you heard of this thing, you guys? It is a fantastical creation that allows me, living in the land of pierogies, rivers, and Sidney Crosby, to just cold watch MSG Network. So far, that's basically meant marathons of Four Courses with J. B. Smoove, but tonight? Tonight, it will mean I can watch the fucking preseason. And what better excuse to return to this thing? I mean, hell, there's no risk - no one read this shit even before I unceremoniously disappeared for 7 months.

So, let's talk about training camp. Not that I can add any new information - real reporters are on the Internet now, so all information is instantly everywhere. But, maybe you might find it helpful to look at it the way I do? And the way I do is with all the numbers and names in big fuck-off lists. Obviously.

So, training camp started on Thursday (September 12), with a list of 66 names. From this, the Rangers will trim down to a maximum of 23 men (plus anyone who might be inactive due to injury) for an opening night roster. Of the 66, not all are under contract to the Rangers. Those under contract may be on normal one-way contracts with the Rangers or on two-way contracts with the Rangers and the Wolfpack. Those not under contract may be draft picks whose negotiating rights belong to the Rangers, or they may have no affiliation at all with the Rangers: they may be unsigned, undrafted prospects (possibly under contract with the Wolfpack alone), or they may just be unrestricted free agents at camp on a tryout.

(Of note, there is a limit of 50 total players that can be "owned" by any club, including both players under contract and players whose negotiating rights are owned by the team, such as recent draft picks who have not yet agreed to terms. Camp invitees include many, but not all, of the people on this 50-man list - some players are locked up for the future but obviously will not be on the team this year. The camp list also includes some people not on the list - those entirely unaffiliated with the Rangers.)

So, with all of that in mind, I will go through who was/is at camp now, and what their status is. Big fuck-off lists, people. They're the best.

Camp opened on Thursday with a list of 38 forwards, 20 defensemen, and 8 goalies. Of those, all but 2 reported: Derek Stepan, because he still doesn't have a fucking contract with the Rangers and is a restricted free agent so he has nowhere else to go come on just sign something, and Martin Biron, for some undisclosed personal reason. These 66 also included 6 players who, from what I can tell, were only up because of the Traverse City Tournament, and returned to their junior teams soon after. These 6 were:

Undrafted, Unsigned Prospects (back to their junior teams)
Forwards (4): Taylor Burke, Josh Graves, Dyson Stevenson, Peter Trainor

Unsigned Draft Picks (back to their junior teams)
Forwards (1): Thomas Spelling
Goalies (1): Mackenzie Skapski

So, down to 60 (33 forwards, 20 defensemen, and 7 goalies), camp continued (with Marty Biron reporting on Saturday, so now everyone is present but Stepan). Then, yesterday, 14 further cuts were made. 6 more were sent back to their junior teams, and 8 players were reassigned to the Wolfpack:

Undrafted, Unsigned Prospects (back to their junior teams)
Forwards (1): Klarc Wilson
Defensemen (2): Ben Fanelli, Jimmy Oginly

Unsigned Draft Picks (back to their junior teams)
Forwards (1): Anthony Duclair
Defensemen (1): Ryan Graves

Players with Two-Way Contracts (reassigned to Hartford except where noted, NHL cap hit is noted)
Forwards (2): Kyle Jean ($925,000), Jason Wilson ($588,333)
Defensemen (2): Troy Donnay (back to junior team, $716,667), Samuel Noreau ($645,000)
Goalies (2): Jason Missiaen ($750,000), Scott Stajcer ($700,000)

Unaffiliated Players (reassigned to Hartford)
Forwards (1): J.T. Barnett (On tryout with Wolfpack)
Defensemen (1): Charlie Dodero (Under contract with Wolfpack)
Goalies (1): Jeff Malcolm (Under contract with Wolfpack)

Which brings us down to the 46 (well, 45 plus Stepan) people left at camp as of today. Of those 46, 20 will be dressed for tonight's preseason opener against the Fucking Devils. Of the remaining 26, many will see action in Philadelphia tomorrow night, after which the Rangers have no further preseason games scheduled until next Monday, in Calgary. So, if I had to guess, I would guess that the next round of cuts will be made after these two games, through which most, but not all, of these guys will see at least some action. Here are the 20 that will be playing tonight:

Players with NHL Contracts (Cap hit is noted)
Forwards (6): Arron Asham ($1m), Brian Boyle ($1.7m), Dominic Moore ($1m), Rick Nash ($7.8m), Darroll Powe ($1,066,667), Brad Richards ($6,666,667)
Defensemen (5): Stu Bickel ($750,000), Michael Del Zotto ($2.55m), Justin Falk ($975,000), Aaron Johnson ($600,000), Marc Staal ($3.975m)
Goalies (1): Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875m)

Players with Two-Way Contracts (NHL cap hit is noted)
Forwards (5): Ryan Bourque ($900,000), Marek Hrivik ($685,000), Chris Kreider ($1.325m), Danny Kristo ($1.3m), Brandon Mashinter ($605,000)
Defensemen (1): John Moore ($965,000)
Goalies (1): Cam Talbot ($562,500)

Unaffiliated Players
Forwards (1): Shawn O'Donnell (Under contract with Wolfpack)

I'll break down the remaining 26 players at camp, the ones you won't be seeing tonight, in a later post, because I've run out of time on this one, and the game is in 40 minutes, and I have to get the hell out of my office. Hockey is back, and life is meaningful again!