More roster cuts

Before leaving for their West Coast pre-season road trip, Vigneault was expected to make a few more cuts today, and he did. The Rangers cut a modest 6 players this morning. Here's who:

Goalie Johan Hedberg, who really was apparently only brought in on a tryout in case Biron's mysterious late reporting turned out to be a Thing. It did not, and Moose never saw a second of preseason game time before being cut this morning. Yikes. Hedberg is now released into the world of unrestricted free agency; the rest of these guys will be sent back to Hartford.
Forwards Josh Nicholls and Michael St. Croix, who are on two-way contracts with the Rangers and the Wolfpack, and defenseman Brendon Nash, who is signed with only the Wolfpack. These guys didn't get dressed for either of this week's games, so there's not much to say about them. Such is the life of a prospect.
Forward Ryan Bourque, whom I noted yesterday looked disappointing in Monday night's contest against Some Of The Devils. Vigneault's staff seems to agree. Next camp, he'll be 23 and drafted 5 years earlier. Anyone else starting to think that the hype was really all based on his last name?
Forward Shawn O'Donnell, who is signed only with the Wolfpack. I still have nothing to say about Shawn O'Donnell.

Interestingly, in cutting Hedberg, Nash, and O'Donnell, the Rangers got rid of everyone left on the list who does not have some sort of contract (1-way or 2-way) with them (Derek Stepan notwithstanding). Also, in cutting Hedberg, Nash, Nicholls, and St. Croix, they rid themselves of almost everyone who had not yet played a preseason game. Excepting Stepan and the injured two (Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin), that list is now down to two: J.T. Miller, who is healthy now but wasn't at the time of the preseason games, and defenseman Tommy Hughes, the lone healthy scratch through both games who is still on the camp list. Good for you, Tommy!

For those of you keeping score, the cuts should bring us down to 40, but the Rangers' current camp roster actually only bears 39 names: it is missing Derek Stepan's entirely. This is a notable change: the Blueshirts United article about the last round of cuts specifically said the list was down to 46, which would have included Stepan. The latest article refers to 6 but says that the list is now down to 39, which would not. Now, this doesn't mean that Stepan won't be a Ranger - it's hard to imagine him actually holding out for too long after the season starts (for reference, P.K. Subban's holdout last season lasted 4 Canadiens regular season games), and it's hard to imagine any GM actually writing an offer sheet (ever, for some reason). It's largely just yet another sign that negotiations are still not going well. And no matter the details or the outcome, the longer it lasts, the worse it is for both Stepan and the Rangers.

The remaining 39 (discounting Stepan, as the Rangers' list has now done) break down as 23 forwards, 13 defensemen, and 3 goalies. Because it is now convenient to do so, I'll go ahead and recompile them from my previous two posts.

Players with NHL Contracts (Cap hit is noted)
Forwards (14): Arron Asham ($1m), Brian Boyle ($1.7m), Derick Brassard ($3.2m), Ryan Callahan** ($4.275m), Derek Dorsett ($1,633,333), Carl Hagelin** ($2.25m), Micheal Haley ($600,000), Dominic Moore ($1m), Rick Nash ($7.8m), Benoit Pouliot ($1.3m), Darroll Powe ($1,066,667), Taylor Pyatt ($1.55m), Brad Richards ($6,666,667), Mats Zuccarello ($1.15m)
Defensemen (8): Stu Bickel ($750,000), Michael Del Zotto ($2.55m), Justin Falk ($975,000), Dan Girardi ($3.325m), Aaron Johnson ($600,000), Ryan McDonagh ($4.7m), Marc Staal ($3.975m), Anton Stralman ($1.7m)
Goalies (2): Martin Biron ($1.3m), Henrik Lundqvist ($6.875m)

(** = Injured, likely to be inactive on opening night)

Players with Two-Way Contracts (NHL cap hit is noted)
Forwards (9): Jesper Fast ($900,000), Marek Hrivik ($685,000), Michael Kantor ($583,333), Chris Kreider ($1.325m), Danny Kristo ($1.3m), Oscar Lindberg ($760,000), Brandon Mashinter ($605,000), J.T. Miller** ($1,244,167), Andrew Yogan ($800,000)
Defensemen (5): Conor Allen ($1.775m), Tommy Hughes** ($608,333), Dylan McIlrath ($1.295), John Moore ($965,000), Danny Syrvet ($587,500)
Goalies (1): Cam Talbot ($562,500)

(** = Has not yet played in a game this preseason)

Those are the 39 players that will continue camp out west and eventually be trimmed down to an opening night roster. Since two will likely start the season on the injured reserve list, and therefore inactive, the minimum number of cuts the Rangers need to make is only 14, to get down to the 23-person limit. But I'd expect a few more than that before the puck drops October 3, since Callahan and Hagelin will likely return before November, Stepan might decide he wants to be a professional hockey player after all, and 23 is kind of a lot anyway. Meanwhile, until next week, if we're lucky, maybe MSG will televise more of training camp?