Don't Mess With The Metro

A Dark Horse is a candidate or competitor about whom little is known but who unexpectedly wins or succeeds.

Training Camp for most sports teams is not only a great showcasing for both young and aged talent, but an event that manages to surprise people every year, especially the fans. It seems like just the other day the New York Rangers signed coveted free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to a four year deal, signing David Desharnais to a one year deal as well as locking up UFA Brendan Smith, and RFAs Jesper Fast and Mika Zibanejad. With training camp vastly approaching, we not only see familiar faces return, but ones that we don't get to watch very often, such as recent draftees Lias Andersson and Filip Chytil, as well as Sean Day, Cristoval Nieves, Ryan Graves, newcomer from Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the KHL, Alexei Bereglazov, and college free agent from Minnesota Duluth, Neal Pionk. Last year’s Dark Horse was Josh Jooris, who was fairly injury prone, and only lasted on the roster for a couple months due to Oscar Lindberg’s sudden increase in both production and work ethic, which eventually led him to being claimed off waivers from Arizona.

With the departure of Dan Girardi, Derek Stepan, Oscar Lindberg, and Adam Clendening we see two spots open on both the Defense and Offense. However, one of the two spots on the defense has already been filled by Kevin Shattenkirk , and one of the spots on the offense has been filled by David Desharnais. Yet we still see two holes: the 7th Defenseman (possibly DeAngelo), and the 3rd line center. Now there’s been rumors of a possible trade involving Tyler Bozak of the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a package including Nick Holden, but for the sake of this article, let's assume the trade never happens

Usually there is only one dark horse, but I see a huge possibility of their being two for the Rangers. That’s why I'm choosing Alexei Bereglazov and Filip Chytil.

I know you may be thinking, “Chytil? The kid wasn't even expected to go in the first round!” or "Chytil? Andersson was drafted before him." And yes I understand that, however, he has no desire to play in Europe any longer, and will not play for his OHL team, the North Bay Battalion, which he was recently drafted to in the CHL Import Draft. The 21st overall selection in the 2017 NHL Draft also managed to sign his three year Entry Level Contract, which leads me to believe that he impressed somebody at the prospect development camp. He only had 8 points (4 goals 4 assists) for HC Zlin of the Czech League, but possesses the power, skill, and ability of a dynamic Two-Way Forward. The Czech Republican was one of the younger players eligible for the draft (17 years old, 6'2 190 lbs), but managed to squeak into the first round. Chytil playing in the show and notching 20+ points sounds perfect for growth, but on a team that is weak at center and in a competitive division such as the Metro, it could be a long shot. Also, you can never rely on Alain Vigneault’s proper usage of young talent, Exhibit A: Pavel Buchnevich. The Hartford Wolf Pack also seem to be in a rough spot after recovering from the abysmal season they just had. So I believe that a complete surprise is in store for the Rangers this coming August. Ending up on the opening night roster would be a longshot for Chytil but hey that's why he's a dark horse and not a lock.

We then move onto the 6’4, 203 pound Russian defenseman Alexei Bereglazov. After reaching the Gagarin Cup final with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Bereglazov played in almost every game situation, whether it’d be the final minutes, penalty kill, power play, or even overtime. He played a total of 13 playoff games due to the fact that Metallurg ran through every single opponent, until they matched up against SKA St. Petersburg in the final, thus kicking them out in 5 games. He notched 6 assists throughout those 13 games, and scored 1 goal and 19 assists in 60 KHL regular season games. Even though the Russian was signed on April 21st, just as the NHL playoffs were kicking off, he wasn’t able to fly over and play due to his contract. He has an absolute rocket on the point and possesses multiple skills that make him NHL ready.

Recently, the Rangers hired former head coach of the Dallas Stars, Lindy Ruff, to help out on the defensive side of the team, which led to the Rangers giving Jeff Beukeboom a management position. Ruff has been known around the league as a “Russian Torturer” and refusing to use young Russians, for example, Valeri Nichushkin, who decided to run back to the KHL and play for CSKA Moscow. Fortunate enough for Pavel Buchnevich he won’t have to deal with Ruff very much, as he said himself in an interview with Championat a few weeks ago. However for Bereglazov, he will have to fight his way into the lineup almost every night, which means replacing either Nick Holden, Anthony DeAngelo, or Marc Staal. Much like Buchnevich, if Bereglazov is sent down to the AHL, he has the option to terminate the contract and return to the KHL. Both NYR management and staff have showed that they have a high praise for the 23 year old Russian, so you never know if they will have a say on where he will play come October.

And there you have it Ranger Fans, those are my “Dark Horses” for the upcoming NYR training camp. Feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I make montages and highlight videos of all things NHL, or you can follow me on twitter @Ignition_Hockey. LET'S GO RANGERS!