{"id":262780,"date":"2025-09-29T02:59:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T02:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/262780\/"},"modified":"2025-09-29T02:59:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T02:59:11","slug":"jonny-brodzinskis-rangers-roster-battle-has-flown-under-the-radar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/262780\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonny Brodzinski’s Rangers roster battle has flown under-the-radar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lost in the headlines of promising young prospects<\/a> and a two-time Stanley Cup winner on a professional tryout vying to make the Rangers roster out of training camp, there is Jonny Brodzinski.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The veteran forward, who has been a depth soldier for the Rangers the last five seasons, is back at square one, looking to prove his worth to a fourth coaching staff in New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hoping this year was going to kind of start right where I left off,\u201d Brodzinski told The Post after practice Saturday. \u201cBut I think I\u2019m just going to have to grind a little bit and get back to that point. I was probably feeling the best I felt in my entire career toward the end there [last season], the last 35-40 games, 10 goals or something like that. I felt really good about my game. So, I think just continuing to build off that and go from there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Coming off back-to-back 50-plus-game seasons for the first time, Brodzinski enjoyed one of the most consistent stretches in his nine-year career under ex-coach Peter Laviolette. <\/p>\n

The 32-year-old, who made the roster out of training camp for the first time last season, appeared in 31 of the final 32 games of the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JonnyJonny Brodzinski Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n

Of course, it ultimately was a lost season as the Rangers missed the playoffs for the first time in four years. <\/p>\n

But it still represented a rewarding period in Brodzinski\u2019s career after years of bouncing between the AHL and NHL for different organizations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been a good player for the Rangers,\u201d new head coach Mike Sullivan said. \u201cHis reliability is conscientious play. You know what you\u2019re going to get. You know he\u2019s going to bring an honest effort every time he steps on the ice. He\u2019s got a conscientious game. You know what you\u2019re going to get from him each and every night. Those types of players are invaluable. Regardless of what that starting lineup looks like on opening night, if we\u2019re ultimately going to become the team that we hope to become, it takes more than 12 [forwards], six [defensemen] and two [goalies], you know?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce again, I\u2019ll go back to my own experience. It requires depth at all positions. I think he\u2019s a guy that helps us in that capacity.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Brodzinski appears to be in competition for a spot on the third line or the 13th forward role, which is one the Minnesota native is quite familiar with. <\/p>\n

Though Brodzinski has played in nearly every crevice of the Rangers lineup, apart from defense and goal, as a wing and a center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If one of the young forwards makes the final cut (Brett Berard, Gabe Perreault, etc.), the Rangers may have to decide between signing Conor Sheary \u2014 the aforementioned two-time champion on PTO \u2014 and sending Brodzinski down to Hartford.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the expert take on the Blueshirts\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Larry Brooks’ Inside the Rangers, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Brodzinski would have to pass through waivers to be assigned to the Wolf Pack, which would put the Rangers at risk of losing their most reliable depth skater. <\/p>\n

Players such as Berard and Perreault, however, are waivers exempt and can always be brought up eventually.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Rangers probably will utilize their waivers-exempt skaters to ensure no one is lost. <\/p>\n

\"JonnyJonny Brodzinski Aristide Economopoulos<\/p>\n

That is unless someone has forced their way onto the roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a chance Sheary has a leg up on Brodzinski after winning his two rings under Sullivan in Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Sheary, who doesn\u2019t offer as much lineup flexibility as Brodzinski but has more offensive upside, presumably would sign for the league minimum of $775,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With unrestricted free agency potentially waiting for Brodzinski at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, this is just another prove-it year for him in a career that\u2019s been full of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of seems like it\u2019s the same thing over and over again, really,\u201d said Brodzinski, who registered seven assists and a career-high 12 goals last season. \u201cJust trying to impress early, make the team out of camp, and then continue to show what I can do throughout the year. If I\u2019m not in the lineup right away, get into it and continue to show what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lost in the headlines of promising young prospects and a two-time Stanley Cup winner on a professional tryout…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":262781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[1302,293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-262780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-new-york-rangers","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115285353151444408","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=262780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/262780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/262781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=262780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=262780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=262780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}