After the first set of cuts today, 26 players still remain in New York Rangers camp.

15 forwards (Dawes, Dubinsky, Zherdev, Callahan, Korpikoski, Voros, Rissmiller, Betts, Orr, Sjostrom, Prucha and Fritsche), eight defensemen (Mara, Kalinin, Fahey, Staal, Girardi, Redden, Potter, and Rozsival), and three goaltenders (Lundqvist, Valiquette, and Wiikman).

The Rangers must cut this to 23 players by the time they get back from their European trip.

Obviously, Wiikman is on his way back to Hartford after the trip to Europe.  Renney wants three goalies on the trip, and the Rangers are allowed to carry 24 players in Prague.  This leaves two cuts left.

On defense, it will come down to Fahey or Potter. Both of these players have pluses and minuses, and as they'll only be a seventh defenseman I'm not going to go crazy over who makes the team.

The big decision will be the last forward cut. I think the five players most vulnerable are Voros, Fritsche, Korpikoski, Rissmiller, and Sjostrom.

In my opinion, Voros has shown enough toughness and skill to stick, while last night's performances from Fritsche (one goal and one assist) and Korpikoski (one goal) against Tampa Bay should have cemented their spot on the team.

So the final forward cut will most likely come down to Sjostrom or Rissmiller. I always like to go with the guy more familiar with the organization, so I would lean towards Sjostrom sticking. I haven't seen enough or anything from Rissmiller that would impel me to argue for him to be on this team.

The next three games are the biggest in the lives Fahey, Potter, Sjostrom, and Rissmiller. Really looking forward to seeing which of these players step up.

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