After a spring and summer spent collecting defensemen of all ages, nationalities and styles, training camp figures to be a spirited event for the Rangers this fall.
The club selected six defensemen in the NHL draft in June, and then added one more on the first day of free agency when they signed former Senator Fredrik Claesson to a one-year contract. At the trade deadline in February, the Rangers acquired two 20-year-old defense prospects — Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek — in all their wheeling and dealing.
“I think, when you look and you’re trying to build your franchise and your prospect pool, everybody talks about centers and ‘D,’ centers and ‘D,’ ’’ Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton said at the team’s Prospect Development Camp after the draft.