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Rangers Reassign Connor Mackey

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The Rangers announced that defenseman Connor Mackey was assigned to AHL Hartford. They’re left with an open roster spot for now.

There are multiple potential motivations for the demotion. Mackey was recalled last weekend to serve as a healthy extra in conjunction with Carson Soucy landing on injured reserve. Soucy is eligible to come off IR tomorrow after sustaining his upper-body injury last Saturday, Oct. 11. He hasn’t skated since then, though, so a return this weekend seems unlikely. The Blueshirts were also carrying eight defensemen on the active roster entering today. They recalled top prospect Scott Morrow on Wednesday amid an injury concern for William Borgen, but Borgen ended up being able to go for yesterday’s overtime loss to the Maple Leafs.

Hartford is also light on its blue line, with the Mackey and Morrow recalls leaving them with just three NHL-contracted defensemen on their roster. Sending Mackey back gives them a fourth and a stable veteran presence as their schedule ramps up.

Notably, the waiver-exempt Morrow stays up for now. That could change when Soucy is ready to return, but reassigning Mackey over Morrow indicates the Rangers may look to get the latter into his season debut sooner rather than later. They’re still ironing out some question marks on their blue line. It’s hard to justify taking rookie Matthew Robertson out of the lineup – after starting the year as New York’s No. 7, he’s been elevated into top-four duties with Borgen with Soucy out. That pairing has dominated to the tune of a 70.4 xGF% and 53.5 CF% at 5v5, per MoneyPuck. While dressing Morrow would give them four righties and two lefties, they may be mulling a benching for Urho Vaakanainen, who’s been a non-factor on the scoresheet through six games.

Mackey, 29, is in his third season with the organization. This recall didn’t result in any playing time, but he did log one appearance for the Blueshirts in 2023-24 and two in 2024-25. The 6’3″ lefty is a pending UFA on a two-way deal and has recorded an 8-27–35 scoring line with a +12 rating in 111 games for Hartford over the past three years.

Mackey does not need waivers for today’s demotion because he’s played fewer than 10 NHL games and spent less than 30 days on the active roster since he last cleared them. This recall lasted five days, so he’s got 25 left on his clock before he needs to hit the wire again to return to Hartford.

Additional Context On Brennan Othmann's Availability

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  • Earlier, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman asserted that the New York Rangers were listening to offers for forward prospect Brennan Othmann. Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic provided additional context in a new article, indicating that the writing was on the wall during training camp. Mercogliano confirmed that Othmann hasn’t made a formal trade request, but agrees that a fresh start would be best. He noted that the Rangers were wholly underwhelmed by Othmann’s four preseason performances and sent him down nearly one week before the beginning of the season.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Rangers Shopping Brennan Othmann

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The Rangers have been taking calls on forward prospect Brennan Othmann over the past several days, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. “There’s been conversations with other clubs about his future… it simply may be that he needs a fresh start elsewhere,” Friedman wrote.

When the Blueshirts selected Othmann with the 16th overall pick in the 2021 draft, they hoped he would be an impact contributor by now. Yet four years on, he hasn’t even established himself as a reliable NHL player. He was passed over for an opening-night job this year by a younger prospect in Noah Laba and a PTO invite in Conor Sheary. He wasn’t a particularly late cut, either, being assigned to AHL Hartford before the calendar flipped to October.

That comes after Othmann didn’t show much in his first extended taste of NHL action last season. The 6’0″ winger was limited to two assists in 22 games, although his usage didn’t lend itself to a ton of offense. He was on the ice for 9:58 per game, although he was extremely sheltered with nearly 71% of his zone starts at even strength coming in the offensive end. That lent itself to some strong possession metrics for Othmann, who managed a +7 rating with a 52.5 CF%. He didn’t look particularly out of place as a fourth-line checking piece, recording 43 hits, but both the team and player are hoping for more scoring out of the Ontario-born winger.

He’s shown that offensive upside in the minors. He had 21 goals and 49 points in 67 games for Hartford as a rookie in 2023-24. While injuries and his NHL call-up limited him to 27 AHL appearances last year, he still clicked at a strong 0.74 points per game rate with a 12-8–20 scoring line. He’s still 22, will turn 23 in January, and has some runway left in his development.

As the Rangers’ willingness to listen in trade talks indicates, though, his time is running out. The threat of waivers is a factor. This is his last season as a waiver-exempt player. If he doesn’t develop enough this season to work his way into an opening night job for 2026-27, the Blueshirts risk losing him for nothing on the wire 12 months from now.

Othmann registered one assist and a +1 rating in his season debut for Hartford last weekend. The Rangers are unlikely to recoup a first-round pick for him by shopping him now, particularly with his limited NHL track record, but a second-rounder might be in question – or a change-of-scenery swap for a prospect at a similar point in their development. Othmann is in the final season of his entry-level contract and will be an RFA next summer.

Rangers Recall Scott Morrow

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The Rangers announced they’ve recalled defenseman Scott Morrow from AHL Hartford. The team is placing center Vincent Trocheck on long-term injured reserve to make room for him on the active roster, Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic reports. He was labeled week-to-week with an upper-body issue over the weekend.

Morrow’s recall comes amid mounting injury concerns for New York’s blue line. They’re already down lefty Carson Soucy, who’s on injured reserve after sustaining an apparent head injury last Saturday. Connor Mackey was the corresponding recall for that move, and he’s sat in the press box for two straight while Matthew Robertson drew into Soucy’s spot on the second pair alongside William Borgen. Now, Borgen isn’t practicing today because of a lower-body injury, according to the AP’s Stephen Whyno, putting his status in doubt for tomorrow’s road contest in Toronto.

Now, Morrow comes up to make sure the Blueshirts have seven healthy defensemen on the roster in case Borgen can’t play. If he can’t, it’ll presumably be Morrow drawing in to replace him, not Mackey, to keep their lefty-righty balance intact. Morrow, who turns 23 next month, has 16 games of NHL experience, all coming with the Hurricanes in 2023-24 and 2024-25. The 2021 second-round pick had a goal and five assists for six points with a +1 rating in his first taste of big-league hockey for Carolina before they sent him to New York this past offseason in the K’Andre Miller sign-and-trade.

Morrow checks in as the Rangers’ most offensively dynamic prospect on the blue line. It’s his defensive acumen that needs to improve for him to secure an everyday spot, something he was close to doing in training camp this year before serving as one of their final cuts. In his first full-time pro year in 2024-25, he made 52 appearances for the Canes’ AHL club and had a 13-26–39 scoring line, earning a spot on the league’s Top Prospects Team and making a trip to the All-Star Game.

He did not record a point in his first outing of the season for Hartford last weekend. It’ll be a quick trip to Connecticut, at least for now, as he comes back up to serve as a No. 6/7 option for the next couple of days, at least. He’s waiver-exempt, which actually works to his advantage for staying on the roster now that the season has begun. If Mackey stays up for 30 days or plays 10 games after his recall, he’ll need to clear waivers again to return to Hartford.

As for Trocheck, his LTIR placement is backdated to Oct. 9. He’s already missed three games and six days required out of the 10-game, 24-day minimums. He will be eligible to return on Nov. 4 against the Hurricanes, ruling him out for the next eight games.

The Rangers’ injury woes on defense have prevented them from making a proper recall to replace Trocheck at forward. They started the year with 14 forwards and seven defenders, but are now rolling 13 and eight. That leaves prospects like Brett Berard and Gabriel Perreault, each of whom might have gotten a top-six shot with Trocheck out, still in the minors for now.

Metropolitan Notes: Devils, Capitals, Rangers

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The New Jersey Devils have announced that Evgenii Dadonov has been placed on injured reserve, and in a corresponding move, they have recalled Brian Halonen from AHL Utica. 

Given Dadonov’s fractured hand, there was some speculation earlier today as to what the Devils would do. Rather than turn to a younger prospect, New Jersey has called upon Halonen, 26. Undrafted out of Michigan Tech University, Halonen has spent the past four seasons with the Utica Comets, including a 27-goal breakout last year. His efforts have led to two brief call-ups in the past, two games apiece in the last two years, where the Minnesota native has not yet recorded a point. 

In place of Dadonov, the team could turn to fellow Russian Arseny Gritsyuk for a larger role, having already impressed as a 24-year-old rookie out of the KHL, with two assists in as many games. Meanwhile, Halonen will provide depth and hope to slot into the team’s bottom six. Dadonov, 36, was brought in last summer on a one year, $1MM deal, however, he has been a steady offensive presence in 617 NHL games, and was a candidate to outperform the contract. The injury in his Devils’ debut is undoubtedly a set-back, but unfortunately New Jersey is no stranger to such adversity, especially after last season. 

Elsewhere across the Metropolitan Division:

  • Chris Cerullo of Russian Machine Never Breaks outlined an interesting draft story from Washington last June. As seen in a behind-the-scenes video posted by the team, the Capitals aggressively tried to move up ten spots or more to select Lynden Lakovic, the talented Moose Jaw Warriors winger. Such efforts proved futile, however, the Caps’ brass watched on the edge of their seats as Lakovic remained on the board. Finally, after Nashville selected Ryker Lee at 26, Washington jumped to snag the 6’4” forward. Lakovic remains in the WHL this season, but forecasts as a big part of the Capitals’ future, as another forward with imposing size. As time goes on, it will be fascinating to see how Lakovic, along with each forward taken before him, pans out; especially given the hypotheticals. As also mentioned in the article, the Capitals were thrilled again when Milton Gastrin, their second-round selection, also fell into their laps.
  • Rangers Head Coach Mike Sullivan told Colin Stephenson of Newsday Sports that Jonathan Quick will handle starting duty for the Blueshirts tonight as they host the Capitals. The news is not surprising, given Igor Shesterkin’s usage last night in Pittsburgh. However, it will be interesting to see how much the 39-year-old Quick is deployed this season, and what he still has to offer. Stephenson also mentioned that young defenseman Matthew Robertson will slot into the lineup for Carson Soucy, who was placed on IR earlier today. 

Rangers Recall Connor Mackey, Place Carson Soucy On IR

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The New York Rangers have placed defenseman Carson Soucy on injured reserve and recalled Connor Mackey in his place, per the NHL media site and Peter Baugh of The Athletic. Soucy had a scary collision with Pittsburgh Penguins winger Rickard Rakell in New York’s Saturday night win. The hit swept Soucy’s legs from under him as his head fell into the boards. He left the game immediately, ending his night with just over six minutes of ice time.

No details about Soucy’s injury have been revealed, though a move to IR will force him out for at least two weeks with an, assumed, upper-body injury. He played solid, second-pair minutes for the Rangers in two games prior to injury. He recorded one goal and a plus-two in those outings – both stats coming in New York’s Thursday win over the Buffalo Sabres.

Soucy is in the final year of a three-year, $9.75MM contract originally signed with the Vancouver Canucks in 2023. He spent the first two years of the deal primarily with the Canucks, racking up 16 points and a minus-three in 99 games played. Those poor totals led Vancouver to trade Soucy to New York at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick used to draft Kieren Dervin from St. Andrew’s College.

Soucy’s absence will leave a notable hole on the Rangers’ blue-line. Mackey will earn the first nod of the season, after playing in only two NHL games, and recording one fight, last season. The rest of his year was spent with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, where he racked up 24 points and 102 penalty minutes in 66 games played. Mackey has found his groove as a hard-hitting defenseman. He has racked up 267 penalty minutes in 163 AHL games over his last three seasons in the league. Those years weren’t consecutive, though, as Mackey spent the 2022-23 season in an extra defender role with the Calgary Flames and Arizona Coyotes. He recorded seven points and 48 PIMs in 30 NHL games that year.

New York is likely to elevate Urho Vaakanainen into Soucy’s role on the second-pair. Behind him will be young defender Matthew Robertson, who hasn’t yet made his season debut. This injury could be an opportunity for Robertson to finally cement his role in the NHL, after earning a top-50 selection in the 2019 NHL Draft but not yet playing more than two games in the NHL. He managed 25 points and 55 penalty minutes in 60 AHL games last season. Should either Vaakanainen or Robertson falter, or New York need a spark, Mackey could make a spot start.

A tight salary cap situation puts New York in a spot where they can only afford to recall Mackey, who makes a league-minimum $775K salary, but could not afford to recall top prospect Scott Morrow, who makes a $917K salary.

Carson Soucy Out With Upper-Body Injury

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Only having one shift in the third period of tonight’s contest against the New York Rangers, many began to wonder if Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang was dealing with an injury. That is indeed the case. According to Seth Rorabaugh of The Tribune-Review, Letang is being evaluated for an undisclosed injury.

In the offseason, the Penguins indicated that they’d like to limit Letang’s usage this season. However, before tonight’s game against the Rangers, in which he played 15:29, Letang has averaged nearly 25 minutes a game, leading the team by a significant margin.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • On the other side of tonight’s contest between the Penguins and Rangers, the winning team is dealing with a defenseman injury of its own. After only appearing in 6:35 of tonight’s game, the Rangers announced that blueliner Carson Soucy left the game due to an upper-body injury. There could be cause for concern given the nature of the injury. Attempting to hit Penguins forward Rickard Rakell, Soucy missed the body check completely, flying awkwardly into the boards.

Vincent Trocheck Out Week-To-Week

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The Rangers will be without a key player for at least the next little while.  Mollie Walker of the New York Post relays (Twitter link) that center Vincent Trocheck is listed as out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

The injury occurred during the second period of Thursday’s victory over Buffalo after a penalty killing shift with the team announcing soon after that he wouldn’t be returning to the game.

The 32-year-old has been a key cog down the middle for New York for several years now as a true two-way, all-situations player.  Trocheck had his best offensive showing back in 2023-24 when he had 77 points in 82 games.  While that output ticked down to 59 points last season, he managed to lead the NHL in shorthanded goals with six.  He started the season anchoring the top line with the expectations that he’d once again be one of their top offensive performers.

In Trocheck’s absence, Mika Zibanejad’s move to the wing will be short-lived as he lined up in Trocheck’s center spot on the top line at practice today, per Newsday’s Colin Stephenson (Twitter link).  Meanwhile, Juuso Parssinen appears to be set to make his season debut with a lineup spot opened up due to Trocheck’s injury.

How the Rangers try to replace Trocheck on the roster is intriguing.  The team can place him on regular injured reserve, opening up a roster spot.  However, they only have $842K in cap space at the moment, per PuckPedia, which isn’t enough to recall any of Brett Berard, Brennan Othmann, or Gabriel Perreault, the players they likely would want to give a chance to.

As long as Trocheck is set to miss 10 games and 24 days, he becomes eligible for LTIR which would allow them to then bring up one of those three players.  However, they’d then stop accruing cap space, further cutting into their already limited flexibility on that front.  Accordingly, it wouldn’t be surprising for them to opt not to bring anyone up to take his spot in the short term.  That would give Parssinen (or Jonny Brodzinski, who’s also on the roster) a chance to make a mark while allowing them to bank enough regular space to recall a prospect over the next few weeks, keeping them out of LTIR altogether.  Either way, they’ll be navigating through a significant loss in Trocheck for at least a few weeks.

Vincent Trocheck Leaves Game With Upper-Body Injury

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  • The New York Rangers announced tonight that center Vincent Trocheck would not return to their game against the Buffalo Sabres due to an upper-body injury. While there is no word on the extent of Trocheck’s injury beyond being held out of the rest of tonight’s game, any extended absence would be a signifcant blow to the Rangers. Trocheck is an important all-situations second-line center for the Rangers. Not only does he center star winger Artemi Panarin and play on the Rangers’ first power play unit, he also was the team’s most-used penalty killing forward last season.

Rangers Reassign Brett Berard

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  • The New York Rangers reassigned forward Brett Berard to AHL Hartford as part of their season-opening roster moves. Despite a solid training camp and preseason, the 23-year-old lost the battle for a middle-six role in New York to veteran Conor Sheary, a longtime favorite of first-year coach Mike Sullivan. The Rangers signed Sheary to a one-year deal earlier today. It’s a disappointing outcome for Berard, who looked to be making a real push for full-time NHL status last season. He skated in a career-high 35 NHL games, scoring 10 points to go alongside the 23 points he scored in 30 AHL contests.

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