Nothing unexpected here, other than Vince scooping the other beat writers in the room lol.
[Mercogliano] Lavi said Reilly Smith is "proven to be successful and a winner." Said he will get a look at 1RW, but added he doesn't want to "box people in or box people out." Training camp will feature different looks.
[Mercogliano] On notion of very few spots being open, Lavi said this was his message to the group: "There's always room inside of training camp… There's always an opportunity for you to jump out of your shoes, knock us on the head and say, 'I am here.'"
[Baugh] Peter Laviolette said he wasn’t involved in any of the offseason talks regarding Jacob Trouba. He’s excited to have him back. “I think you need really good leadership inside the room. … I thought Jacob was a really good captain for us last year.”
[Mercogliano] Lavi said Rempe will be one of the young players vying for a spot, but added, "He put in a lot of work this summer. He had a big impact on our team last year… This is a young player that works tirelessly at his craft."
[Walker] Does NYR coach Peter Laviolette see Alexis Lafrenière getting PP1 time? "Our power play and our penalty kill were excellent last year. In order to be successful as a team, they have to be… This is what training camp is for. It's a chance to look at different people or different units. But you try to find the balance sometimes between something that is really successful and then mixing it up and moving it around. There will be opportunity where things will get looked at differently through training camp, and not just for him."
by lionson76
5 Comments
Sad to see this team and the people managing it will die on Trouba’s hill. Whatever. Over it.
If Rangers falter coming out of the gate I could see Drury panicking and making a lot of trades. Unfortunately with the Shesterkin, KAM, and Laf extensions and resignings I think the FO feels this is their best shot.
Their 1st Rounder will definitely be in play this year. Other than continued growth and development from the young guns (Chytil, Kakko, Laf, Kam, Schneider) I think Rangers need one more impact defenseman. Like a PMD to anchor second pair and alleviate pressure in defensive zone would be huge. Not sure who or how it would work but I think that’s there biggest need
Why are the social media admins for the rangers so bad. Why is this not on YouTube. They’ll upload every pre/post game presser and player interviews but they didn’t upload the Drury press conference or this one with Lavi.
Also from [Vince](https://x.com/vzmercogliano/status/1836476572091474341), regarding Kakko:
“Lavi on Kakko: ‘He’ll get an opportunity to play his game and take hold of what he wants to take hold of.'”
Not to be cynical, but this is just a whole lot of presser hot air and nothing of substance lol