New York Rangers' Summer Deals Will Create Meaningful Training Camp Competition

After coming up short against the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final, the New York Rangers were given a chance to reflect and focus on the future. Months have passed since a dejected Henrik Lundqvist lay prone on the ice, and training camp is around the corner.

The makeup of the 2014-15 Rangers will be vastly different than the 2013-14 version, and every spot will have to be earned. This will be the case because general manager Glen Sather decided to go out and sign multiple players for a select amount of spots.

There are tons of players—both young and old—who will be fighting for their lives over the next two weeks, and when all is said and done, the Rangers will have the best possible roster made up of players under contract.

Heading into the summer, it was assumed that youngsters such as Oscar Lindberg, J.T. Miller, Jesper Fast and Danny Kristo, among others, would face minimal resistance once training camp rolled around in September.

That line of thinking was thrown out the window once Sather put ink to paper and acquired the signatures of Lee Stempniak, Ryan Malone, Matthew Lombardi, Kevin Hayes, Tanner Glass and others. These players all have different strengths, weaknesses, contracts and ages, but all have an equal chance to make the Blueshirts' final roster come October.

There is a good portion of the Rangers roster accounted for, but there are vacancies in roles that include: third-line center, third-line wing and both wings on the fourth line. With that in mind, here is a rough outline of the Rangers roster, and the spots yet to be accounted for. 

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Chris Kreider	Derek Stepan	Rick Nash
Mats Zuccarello	Derick Brassard	Martin St. Louis
Carl Hagelin	OPEN	OPEN
OPEN	Dominic Moore	OPEN

As you can see, there are more players available than spots to be filled, and this is a great problem for the Rangers to have. The surplus of players will create a ton of competition in camp, and when the final roster is made, there will be no doubts that the best players will have made the cut.

Player	Position	Potential Role
J.T. Miller	Center/Wing	Third Line
Kevin Hayes	Center/Wing	Third Line
Ryan Malone	Wing	Third Line
Lee Stempniak	Wing	Bottom Six
Matthew Lombardi	Center/Wing	Fourth Line
Jesper Fast	Wing	Fourth Line
Ryan Haggerty	Wing	Bottom Six
Tanner Glass	Wing	Fourth Line
Danny Kristo	Wing	Bottom Six
Oscar Lindberg	Center	Bottom Six

If a rookie like Miller edges out veterans like Lombardi and Stempniak, it will be because he deserved it and not because he was handed a roster spot. That in turn could be a huge confidence-booster, and it could provide Miller with the extra push needed to start the season off on the right foot.

Additionally, those who don't make the cut will bolster either the Rangers' depth, or they will greatly enhance the starting lineup of the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers' AHL affiliate. In either scenario, the Rangers come out winners, and it gives them the best chance to win.

You can never have enough depth, and the Rangers should be in good shape in the event that the injury bug bites the team in 2014-15. It is never a good thing to lose a top player, but it will be comforting to know that the Rangers will have capable NHL players waiting in the wings instead of needing to rely on fringe players. 

No matter what the outcome is at the end of training camp, the Rangers will be in a position of strength as opposed to last season. The majority of call-ups in 2013-14—Brandon Mashinter and Darroll Powe, to be specific—lacked versatility.

Both were ideal fourth-line grinders, but they couldn't be counted on for top-six roles.

The moves made this summer ensure that the Rangers will have a player to fill almost every potential need; therefore, they will be in a better position to contend for a Stanley Cup. Only time will tell how good the Rangers are this season, but there is no question that they have enough personnel to ice a competitive squad.