Ryan Carpenter has bounced around three cities and three NHL teams since the start of last season.
After starting 2021-22 with the Blackhawks, for which he played 168 games over three years, Carpenter was traded to Calgary at the trade deadline in March. He only laced up for eight regular-season games with the Flames and was scratched for all of the playoffs. And after becoming a free agent at the end of the season, Carpenter signed a one-year, $750,000 deal with the Rangers in mid-July.
“It feels like this year was a blur,” Carpenter told The Post after a harder-than-usual practice on Thursday. “My daughter was born at the beginning of last training camp, now she’s 1. Chicago, it just wasn’t the year we wanted to happen. Tough things happened on top of us losing and then getting traded, moving up to Canada for a couple months. Just going back and packing up in Chicago, just a lot of packing and moving.
“It’s been busy. Just excited for the chance to try to earn a spot here in New York for a team that had success last year and has a lot of upside.”
When Gustav Rydahl was assigned to AHL Hartford on Thursday, it all but secured Carpenter’s roster spot with the Rangers. Between his familiarity with head coach Gerard Gallant, who coached the 31-year-old center with the Golden Knights, his penalty-killing abilities and his fit in the fourth-line center role, Carpenter checks a lot of boxes the Rangers need filled.
Gallant isn’t the only familiar face for Carpenter, who also played with Ryan Reaves in Vegas and Barclay Goodrow in San Jose. Even though Carpenter already knows Gallant and a couple of his new Rangers teammates, the Florida native said he still feels as if he has to gain the trust of his new coaching staff and the rest of the team.
“He’s a solid player, kills penalties,” Gallant said. “He blocks shots, he’s a good defender and a character kid. He comes to the rink every day and tries to get better. We’re not looking for him to go out there and score 25 goals, we’re looking for him to do his job and play solid and that’s what he does. He knows his role for any team he plays. It’s an important role.”
Carpenter considers himself a hard, two-way forward who is more of a defensive center. He’s cut from the Gallant mold in the sense that he aspires to be hard on the forecheck, faceoffs and penalty kill. The Rangers lost a heap of penalty-killing forwards to free agency in the offseason, so shorthanded experience was a key focus for president and general manager Chris Drury when he was compiling the training camp roster.
“My whole career in the NHL I’ve tried to earn and stay on the PK and help out that way,” Carpenter said. “It’s not a role where you’re maybe putting up points or flashy, but it’s a way that you can help the team win and so that’s what I’m trying to do is work on the PK here and get better, build trust with whoever you’re out there with. At the same time, show that you can help the team.”
After a disappointing 5-4 loss to the Bruins on Wednesday, Gallant conducted a hard practice that concluded with gassers.
Kaapo Kakko skated on the top line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, which bumped Jimmy Vesey down to the second unit alongside Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck. Barclay Goodrow slotted into the right-wing spot on the third line with Alexis Lafreniere and Filip Chytil, while Vitali Kravtsov was demoted to the fifth line, next to Dryden Hunt and Julien Gauthier.
Defensemen Ryan Lindgren (lower body) and Jacob Trouba (upper body) did not practice Thursday. Both are considered day-to-day, according to the team. … Forward Jonny Brodzinski was put on waivers for the purpose of assigning the 29-year-old forward to AHL Hartford. If he clears, Brodzinski will be sent to the Wolf Pack.
