Tarrytown NY: Rangers prospects show skills at development camp
NY Rangers prospects skate during a development camp at the MSG Training Center in Tarrytown July 1, 2025.
TARRYTOWN – The Rangers’ prospect pool may be light on high-end talents, but some potentially intriguing role players have been making their way through the system, with many taking part in Development Camp at the MSG Training Center this week.
Organizational depth has been bolstered by a series of activity in recent months, including the trade acquisitions of centers Brendan Brisson and Carey Terrance and defensemen Jackson Dorrington and Scott Morrow and eight new draft picks. Meanwhile, a handful have signed their entry-level contracts.
“A lot of the prospects have turned pro over the course of time here, and now we’ve got the next wave coming through,” said Jed Ortmeyer, the Rangers director of player development. “We’re excited about the path that they’re on.”
The breeding ground for many of them is the American Hockey League, where the Hartford Wolf Pack serve as the Rangers’ minor-league affiliate.
Not too long ago, the Wolf Pack roster was used to stash aged-out prospects whose development had stagnated, but there’s been a clear shift in recent years. Increasingly, the Rangers are sending young players to Hartford to learn and take gradual steps before being thrust into the NHL spotlight.
The last example came June 30, when they renounced their rights to 24-and-older forwards Lucas Edmonds, Arthur Kaliyev and Jake Leschyshyn to clear AHL space. Those decisions were made, at least in part, because they prefer to give that ice time to promising youths such as Brisson, Terrance, Jaroslav Chmelař, Noah Laba, Bryce McConnell-Barker, Dylan Roobroeck, Adam Sỳkora and Kalle Väisänen, all of whom are slated to play for the Wolf Pack next season. At least one from the trio of Brett Berard, Brennan Othmann and top prospect Gabe Perreault is expected to join them, depending how the NHL roster competition shakes out.
The objective, as Ortmeyer put it, is “for them to play in meaningful games and playoffs and big minutes and situations” in preparation for the eventual jump to New York. And while, outside of maybe Perreault, none are expected to be stars, it will be a success if the Rangers develop a few bottom-six contributors from a group that looks considerably deeper than it did a year or two ago.
Gabe Perreault determined to ‘make the team’
Perreault was the most-hyped prospect at development camp, his third go-around since being drafted 23rd overall in 2023.
He signed his entry-level deal on Mar. 31 and got his first taste with five NHL games late in the season, but his inclusion this week sent a pretty clear signal that the 20-year-old winger is on the roster bubble heading into 2025-26 training camp.
Perreault knows he’ll have to earn a spot and expressed his determination to do just that.
“I’m going in with the mentality that I’m going to make the team,” he said after the July 2 session. “That’s what everyone’s mentality should be. I’m going to do everything this summer – train hard, work on the little things I need to, and come here to make the team.”
Team president Chris Drury perked up after hearing those comments.
“I like that mindset,” he said. “I want players to have goals of coming in here and making the team. That’s why we have training camp and tryouts. That’s why young players like him, Berard and Othmann are working so hard in the summer – to come back and give themselves the best chance to be Rangers in the fall.”
Any of them could force their way into consideration this fall, but the Blueshirts likely won’t have space in the lineup for all three. And with Perreault being the youngest and rawest, he would probably benefit most from AHL time.
There’s a recognition that the 5-foot-11, 178-pounder needs to add strength to prepare for the rigors of the NHL game and allow his lauded playmaking skills to shine. He said his top priorities for the summer are “weight gain and skating.”
To that end, he’s spending the offseason in his hometown of Chicago, where he’s training with a group of established NHLers that includes J.T. Compher, Christian Dvorak and his childhood hero, Patrick Kane.
“I’m just trying to watch him every day, the little things he does, how smart (he is), the way he picks up pucks and makes plays,” Perreault said. “He’s the best stick-handler in the world, so I’m just trying to look at him and take anything I can from him.”
First look at Carey Terrance
This was the Rangers’ first up-close look at Terrance, the only player they acquired in the June 12 trade that sent franchise icon Chris Kreider to Anaheim.
“I don’t look too much into that,” the Akwesasne, N.Y. native said when asked if that adds any pressure. “He’s a great player. He scored a lot of goals in this league. To be traded for him, it’s pretty cool. But I’m just trying to come in here with a clear mindset.”
The 20-year-old, who captained the Erie Otters of the OHL last season, sounded mature beyond his years. He also showed off plus skating ability and looked especially engaged in defensive and battle drills.
He’s got some offense in the tank, as evidenced by 39 points (20 goals and 19 assists) in 45 OHL games last season, but his future role should be similar to the one he played while helping Team USA win gold at the 2025 World Junior Championships. There, Terrance was relied on to kill penalties, win key faceoffs and take on difficult defensive matchups.
Ortmeyer described him as “very coachable.”
“He works hard,” he added. “I got to see him at World Juniors, and he’s competitive. He likes to play a high-tempo game. It’s been great to get to know him. He’s eager to learn and wants to be great, so we’re excited to have him and add him to our group.”
Who’s the next 3C?
Terrance will be among the young centers in Hartford next season, making for an interesting quartet with Brisson, Laba and Roobroeck.
Brisson, who has 25 games of NHL experience, did not participate in development camp, but the other three each stood out in their own ways.
Laba may have been the most impressive, with a few highlight goals and a bulked-up frame that made it hard for fellow prospects to knock him off the puck.
The 21-year-old was just about a point-per-game player for Colorado College the past two seasons (63 points in 65 games as a sophomore and junior) and finished the 2024-25 campaign by getting 11 games with the Wolf Pack, where the 2022 fourth-round pick (No. 111 overall) notched five points (three goals and two assists) while being used as the team’s No. 1 center and playing both power play and penalty kill.
“To be able to come in for a month, month and a half, and play those 11 games was good for me,” Laba said. “Guys are bigger, faster, stronger, so being able to get the puck and move it right away – know where the next one or two plays are – is important. I’m working on that going into the summer.”
Roobroeck didn’t make as many eye-popping plays, but he’s hard to miss out there.
The 6-foot-7, 207-pounder is a big man who moves well for his size and may have been Hartford’s most improved player last season. He finished his rookie year with a team-leading 20 goals, nine of which came in his final 12 games, while moving up in the lineup and killing penalties.
“Going into the first year, you just want to keep improving,” the 2023 sixth-round pick (No. 178 overall) said. “If you start out slow, it’s not the end of the world. You’ve just got to keep getting better each day, each week. That’s what I focused on.”
None of the four project as top-six forwards at the next level − of course, that can change − but if one or two pop and become dependable two-way centers for the Rangers, it should be considered a win.
Veterans J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad are each under contract through at least 2029, which should keep the top center spots occupied for multiple years to come. But Zibanejad shifted to wing at end of last season, with little depth behind him to solidify the third and fourth lines.
That’s where Brisson, Laba, Roobroeck and Terrance come in. They all need additional seasoning and likely won’t break camp with the team, but the Rangers have multiple irons in the fire for the not-so-distant future.
Drew Fortescue shows patience
The defensemen group has grown deeper the past week, but there are fewer knocking on the NHL door than we see with the forwards.
Morrow should have a chance to make the roster, but he wasn’t at development camp. Other than that, patience will be required.
Drew Fortescue seems to have a keen understanding of this. The Pearl River, N.Y. native must have been tempted to sign his ELC and follow Perreault, his Boston College teammate, after their sophomore season. But he carefully considered his options and decided to return to school for at least one more year.
“I talked to the front office and I just think that it’s best for my development,” he said. “I’m focused on getting bigger and stronger to make that next jump. My plan is to continue to work on that and be ready for the following year.”
The 20-year-old lefty registered 11 assists and a plus-28 rating in 36 games for BC last season while matching up with opposing teams’ top lines and logging big minutes on the PK.
He knows he’ll have to add to his 6-foot-1, 176-pound frame to handle those assignments at the next level and will spend his summer training at Prentiss Hockey Performance in Stamford, Connecticut.
E.J. Emery has work to do
Perhaps the highest upside defenseman in the Rangers’ pipeline is 2024 first-round pick E.J. Emery, but he, too, has a ways to go in his development.
The 6-foot-3, 185-pounder also stressed the importance of bulking up − “It’s a man’s game,” he said − and said he’s gained around 10 pounds while working with a nutritionist so far this summer.
That will be critical given the defensive defenseman role he’s expected to play, but Emery’s puck transporting and passing skills must be honed, as well. He posted only one point (an assist) in 31 games as a freshman at the University of North Dakota last season and didn’t shy away from questions about it.
“It just shows I’ve got something to work on,” he said.
Ortmeyer didn’t sound overly concerned.
“He had a really good year,” he said. “He’s one of the youngest defensemen in college hockey as a true freshman. It’s a tough league he was playing in. … He was able to go in and have a big role and play big minutes for them. I think his development is heading in the right direction.”
2025 draft class notes
Seven of the eight prospects the Rangers selected in the 2025 NHL Draft traveled to attend development camp, but their first selection, second-round pick Malcolm Spence, was unable to participate due to illness.
He and Terrance were teammates with Erie and remain close friends, with the latter describing the scene in his bedroom as he waited for New York’s pick at No. 43 overall to come up on June 28.
“I saw the Islanders had the pick before the Rangers, and I’m like, ‘Oh, they might draft him with (No. 1 overall pick Matthew) Schaefer,'” Terrance recalled. “I was like, ‘Please don’t!’ And it didn’t happen. Then I was sitting there (when the Rangers went on the clock) like, ‘C’mon! C’mon! C’mon!'”
The only other recent draftee missing was left-handed defenseman Artyom Gonchar, who was selected with pick No. 89 in the third round. The 18-year-old Russian was unable to fly while his work visa processes, according to a team source.
Gonchar was one of five defensemen drafted by the Rangers last week, along with Sean Barnhill (No. 70), Zeb Lindgren (No. 139), Evan Passmore (No. 171) and Felix Farhammar (No. 203). Their system had been lacking prospects at that position, but Ortmeyer said those picks were more about taking the best players available than prioritizing a specific need.
“The draft is how it falls,” he said.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.