Preview: Rangers Battle Predators in Season Opener

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It began with 52 players reporting to training camp less than one month ago. The roster is down to 23, and on Thursday night on Broadway, the Rangers will lift the curtain on the David Quinn Era, giving Rangers fans - and the Rangers themselves - a first glimpse of the team's near- and long-term future in the 92nd season of Rangers hockey.
It's been well documented, the Rangers are a retooled team: Eight players who will suit up Thursday night - more than one-third of the active roster - were not in last season's Opening Night lineup. Three of the forwards, including two centers, and the backup goaltender are rookies. And there are others in Hartford and elsewhere who are waiting for an opening.
And so the players themselves seem as eager as anyone to figure out what their ceiling will be in 2018-19. They are aware of the expectations some people outside their room have for them and do not shy away from the subject.
"It's going to be fun to find out how we stack up against other teams," said Henrik Lundqvist. "The expectations around us might be a little different this year. That's fine."

"I think there's a little bit of a we'll-show-'em attitude," Quinn said.
Quinn, a one-time assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche, will be a head coach for the first time in an NHL game, and he has not tried to hide his excitement about that fact, since the day he was hired in May. "Listen, I'm human," Quinn said Wednesday following the Rangers' final preseason practice. "I'm coaching my first NHL hockey game tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden coaching the New York Rangers. I'm probably as excited as you would think I would be."
Joining him in making his NHL debut will be Brett Howden, the 20-year-old center who earned his way onto the roster in Traverse City and in preseason. But Howden, 20, is not even the youngest centerman in the lineup: that distinction belongs to 19-year-old Filip Chytil, who made the Opening Night roster last season and hopes to stay for more than a pair of games this time around. Kevin Shattenkirk, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider and Lundqvist all are healthy after dealing with injuries over the second half of last season.
The schedule makers have provided no soft landing. Into the Garden comes a Predators team fresh off a Presidents' Trophy in 2017-18, and seeking a return to the Stanley Cup Final this season following a disappointing second-round ouster in May. Nashville has not been shy about its Stanley Cup aspirations this season and "New York is a great place for us to start," head coach Peter Laviolette said on Tuesday.
"We're playing one of the best teams in the league, a team that's one of the Stanley Cup favorites, so we're certainly not dipping our toe in the water," Quinn said.
Laviolette is entering his fifth season as head coach of the Predators; Quinn is entering his fifth month at the Rangers' helm. He has had roughly three weeks of training camp and preseason to teach systems and the philosophy he wants to instill in his team. If he had his wish he would squeeze out a little more time, but the prep period is up and "guys are excited, you can feel it - you can see it in guys' eyes," in Mika Zibanejad's words.
"The honeymoon is over," Quinn said. "We've liked our practices, we think we've been coachable, we think we've worked hard. But we're going to find out (Thursday) night."

PROJECTED LINEUP

Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello
Ryan Spooner-Filip Chytil-Jesper Fast Vlad Namestnikov-Brett Howden-Vinni Lettieri
Brady Skjei-Adam McQuaid
Brendan Smith-Kevin Shattenkirk
Marc Staal-Neal Pionk
Henrik Lundqvist
Alexandar Georgiev

PLAYERS TO WATCH

There should be times this season when you can't help but watch Chytil. His skating, skill and creativity will make him a dynamic player, and at barely 19 years old he will only get better. Plus, when asked about his objectives for the season, he said in part, "I want to see the fans have fun."
In Roman Josi, PK Subban, Ryan Ellis and Mattias Ekholm, the Predators' top-four defensemen are as good as any in the league. Nashville's blueliners combined for 56 goals in 2017-18, most in the NHL.

NUMBERS GAME

The Rangers are 38-37-14-2 all-time in season openers, and 11-10-5-0 when opening the season at home.
The Predators have not won at the Garden since Dec. 10, 2013, being outscored 15-6 in four losses since.
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