Rangers head coach John Tortorella will be busy the 2010 Olympic break, as he will join Team USA as one of two assistant coaches for the Vancouver Games. Tortorella and Rangers assistant trainer Bruce Lifrieri were named to the team Monday.

USA Hockey has filled out the rest of its coaching and support staff for the U.S. men’s hockey team that will look for gold in Vancouver in February, and Rangers head coach John Tortorella and assistant trainer Bruce Lifrieri are a part of it.

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Now that the NHL announced the salary cap of $56.8 million for the upcoming season, it is time to examine the Rangers precarious cap situation heading into free agency. While most pegged the Rangers as right up against the cap,…

USA Hockey today announced that John Tortorella—who has the most NHL victories by an American-born coach—and Islanders coach Scott Gordon will be assistants to Ron Wilson for Team USA in the 2010 Olympic games.

The U.S. roster is to be an…

Watch highlights of winger Marian Gaborik, who signed with the Rangers as an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Rangers head coach John Tortorella answered five questions from Blueshirts fans concerning his approach to next season and his experience coaching in New York.

Rangers head coach John Tortorella spoke with members of the media on June 29 as the Rangers Prospect Development Camp got under way.

Welcome fans back to Pucks on Broadway, after a short break and some re-organization, we are back in full swing.

First, a minor announcement.

As many of you know, I have taken on a greater role with Blueshirt Bulletin. This has led to taking a major role and being the lead content writer for BlueshirtBulletin.com. In light of this, my posts here will be less frequent and we will be having additional contributors come the fall.

Now onto some Rangers.

Over at Blueshirt Bulletin, I have done a short draft recap including players selected and some analysis.

The Rangers needed to go out and get forwards and goalies and that’s what they did. While none are truly NHL-ready or near-ready, they have stocked the farm enough to have some wiggle-room with player movement and future transactions.

With the prospect of UFA’s Paul Mara, Derek Morris, Nik Antropov, Nik Zherdev, and Blair Betts returning looks bleak, rookies Corey Potter, Mike Sauer, Mike Del Zotto, Bobby Sanguinetti, Evgeny Grachev, and Artem Anisimov are all going to get an opportunity to make the club in September.

There have also been rumblings of the Rangers in the Dany Heatley sweepstakes, as well as Marian Hossa so expect the Rangers to dump some additional salary if they are going to make a push and most likely need to fill gaps with additional rookies.

And it’s never too early to have a preliminary roster, so let’s take a stab at it.

Assume first that Michal Rozsival is part of whatever trade the Rangers make. Next, assume that the Rangers do not re-sign both Nik Zherdev and Nik Antropov, perhaps one is retained. Also, Glen Sather has made it clear that both Blair Betts and Freddy Sjostrom will not be returning.

Left Wingers:
Sean Avery
Lauri Korpikoski
* Dany Heatley
Aaron Voros

Centers:
Scott Gomez
Chris Drury
Brandon Dubinsky
Artem Anisimov

Right Wingers:
Ryan Callahan
Nik Zherdev/Antropov
P.A. Parenteau*
Colton Orr*

Defense:
Marc Staal
Dan Girardi
Wade Redden
Matt Gilroy*
Corey Potter*
Mike Del Zotto*

Now, this is putting a lot of pressure on the rookies and clearly shows some gaps that the Rangers must address in free agency.

A veteran defenseman and perhaps a guy like Mara, would fill out the defensive core and allow one or two rookies to be acclimated to the NHL.

The Rangers also must look at a couple wingers to fill out the third and fourth lines.

This week we will profile some UFA’s and potential destinations.

As always, more to come…

Thanks to all of those who followed us on Twitter this weekend for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. As we continue throughout the summer and into the next season, we will be updating here and on Twitter, so stay tuned….

The Rangers will host their prospects development camp this week at the team training facility in Greenburgh.

The new draftees and other prospects will attend.

For a roster of participants, from the Rangers site, click here.

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