Oct. 27: The Rangers assigned Leschyshyn back to Hartford on Sunday morning, the team announced. He didn’t play in last night’s 2-1 win over the Ducks, instead serving as a healthy scratch. He could continue to serve as an extra forward for the next little while but will likely only be summoned to the Rangers’ roster on game days, allowing them to accrue additional cap space while Leschyshyn is off the roster.
Oct. 26: The Rangers didn’t waste much time filling the roster spot created by Friday’s assignment of winger Matt Rempe to AHL Hartford. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Jake Leschyshyn has been recalled from the Wolf Pack.
The 25-year-old was a full-time roster player for the better part of a year and a half between Vegas and New York, who claimed him off waivers in early 2023. However, he only got into one game with the Rangers last season, spending the rest of the year in Hartford where he had eight goals and 11 assists in 47 games. He has suited up five times for them this season, collecting three points so far. For his career, he has played in 77 NHL contests, notching two goals and four assists in 10:15 per game of playing time.
With a cap hit of just $766.7K, Leschyshyn actually costs less than the league minimum on the cap which will help them as they look to stay out of LTIR and continue to accrue cap space. He’s in the final year of his contract and will need to play at least three NHL games for him to be eligible for restricted free agency this summer. If that doesn’t happen, he can hit the open market next summer as a Group Six unrestricted free agent.