Bear Molly WalkerBrennan Osman is expected to start the season in the AHL, not the Rangers. Mercogliano wins He says the same about Brett Berard. While this may sound like disappointing news, it’s somewhat expected. The Rangers always shoot themselves in the foot by rushing the odds, and Osman/Berrard represents two of the next three forwards in the NHL along with Will Coyle. Naturally, there are more kids in the pipeline, but these three seem to be the most ready to enter the NHL right now.
With Usman and Berard likely to start at the AHL level, barring strong camps and/or injuries, they are better able to adapt to professional hockey than the OHL and NCAA, respectively. If they dominate the AHL this year or there are injuries all season, they’ll replace some cheaper veterans like Tyler Pitlick and maybe even Nick Bonino to make room on the roster.
This is a big part of the Rangers’ free agency strategy. All of their signatures are easily buried in the AHL if they are not claimed for waiver. Everything is fluid and things will change from October to December to March to June (hopefully).