If you cast your eyes downward and re-read my entry of September 7th, “The Magnificent Seventy”, you can see my predictions as to which players invited to camp might be around after the last preseason game was played. I wasn’t too far off the mark:

Left Wing

Naslund, Dawes, Prucha, Korpikoski, Voros, Nahanahs

Center

Gomez, Drury, Dubinsky, Betts, Anisimov, Fritsche, Rissmiller, Nedved

Right Wing

Zherdev, Sjostrom, Callahan, Orr, Jamtin, Moore, Parenteau

Defense

Redden, Staal, Roszival, Mara, Girardi, Kalinin, Kondratiev, Pock, Sanguinetti, Sauer

Goal

Lundqvist, Valiquette, Wiikman, Brodeur, Zaba

Here is Tom Renney’s line up as the Rangers prepare to play the New Jersey Devils tomorrow before departing for Europe:

Naslund-Gomez-Drury

Dawes-Dubinsky-Zherdev

Callahan-Korpikoski-Voros

Rissmiller-Betts-Orr

Sjostrom-Prucha-Fritsche

Mara, Kalinin, Fahey, Staal, Girardi, Redden, Potter, and Rozsival 

Lundqvist, Valiquette, and Wiikman

Save for my omission of Potter and Fahey, my prediction about which of the 36 out of 69 players invited to camp would still be around this Friday was close. Of those 36, 11 more were cut today. Subtract those cuts and my roster is Renney’s remaining roster.

At this juncture, the conclusions we can draw from the Cuts and the Keepers are  these:

Michael Del Zotto is going to be one of the best NHL Defenseman of his generation. I wouldn’t be surprised if he made the team out of camp next season and the Rangers put him right in the 2009 Opening Night line up. Please God keep this kid healthy in juniors. He showed more natural talent and hockey sense then the seasoned veterans he was playing with.

Petr Nedved got a career revitalizing showcase courtesy of Glen Sather. If the Rangers weren’t so deep at center, Nedved surely would have been signed.

Anisimov, Parenteau and Moore may not make it to the Garden this year but they were soooo close. What a comfort it is to know we have such depth in Hartford to draw upon if need be.

Pock and Jessiman will never play with the Rangers.

Sanguinetti is at least a year away.

Here are my evaluations about the preseason play of the Europe bound  Roster:

We all know what Gomez, Drury, Dubinsky, Callahan, Staal, Girardi, Betts, Orr and Lundqvist bring to the Rangers. They are the core of the team. High priced newbies like Redden, Naslund and Zherdev need time to fit in to this core. It is the seeming overpriced players and the unknown entities that are the big line up question marks.

Are Dawes, Sjostrom, Prucha, Mara and Kalinin still worth our time and their paychecks? Will Voros, Fritsche, Potter and Fahey prove to be better players and better bargains?  

My prediction is that the final four cuts are likely to be: Fritsche, Rissmiller, Potter and Wiikman. Again, It is comforting to know we have these caliber players in Hartford. Hold on a minute there Hurley. 26-4=22. Where is the extra player? 

Only Glen Sather has the answer to that question.

PS. After last night, is there anyone out there that remains unconvinced of the value of Colton Orr to the New York Rangers? That was one of the fairest and most entertaining hockey fights I have ever seen. Colton Orr cemented his spot on the roster in the minds of the coaching staff and in the hearts of the fans. Who needs Sean Avery?