Final roster projection for the 2023-24 NY Rangers

Another round of cuts on Sunday left the New York Rangers with 27 players remaining in training camp, with roughly 10 days to reduce that number to 22 before their Oct. 12 regular-season opener in Buffalo.

You may be asking, why not the maximum 23? Because they don't have the salary cap space for it. The 22-man projection laid out in this story would leave them with $740,917 in available space, which isn't even enough to carry an extra player at the veteran's minimum salary of $775,000. They simply can't fit more than 22.

3 takeaways: Peter Laviolette calls effort against Isles 'unacceptable'

With two preseason games remaining − Wednesday in New Jersey, then Thursday at home against the Bruins − there's still time for the remaining players to change minds. A couple of the organization's top prospects are making it difficult for team president Chris Drury and head coach Peter Laviolette to send them to the minors, which is a good problem to have. But a slew of offseason signings, coupled with a veteran core that's locked in place, leaves very few spots available.

Let's dive in with our latest projection for what the roster could look like after the final cutdowns:

Forwards

Makes the cut (13): Nick Bonino, Jonny Brodzinski, Filip Chytil, Barclay Goodrow, Kaapo Kakko, Chris Kreider, Alexis Lafrenière, Artemi Panarin, Tyler Pitlick, Vincent Trocheck, Jimmy Vesey, Blake Wheeler and Mika Zibanejad

Misses the cut: Will Cuylle and Brennan Othmann

Analysis: Everyone's wondering if Cuylle and Othmann have played well enough to force Drury and Laviolette to rethink their original plan, but I'm not convinced.

It's not that they haven't had held up their end of the bargain. On the contrary, which is why they've both stuck around this long. The Rangers are rewarding their strong camps and sending a message about their belief in two of their top prospects.

Is possible they decide to shake things up and keep one of them? We can't rule it out, especially if there are any more performances Laviolette deems "unacceptable," as was the case in Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Islanders. But there are 12 established forwards ahead of them in the pecking order, and none of them appear at risk of losing their lineup spot quite yet.

Goodrow and Vesey are trusted, bottom-six forwards who aren't going anywhere, while Bonino and Pitlick − a couple of Laviolette favorites − were signed this summer to play specific roles on the fourth line. One of them would have to be bumped out to fit Cuylle or Othmann, and I don't see that happening this early.

Plus, cutting any of the 13 forwards projected to make the roster would mean exposing them to waivers, whereas Cuylle and Othmann are on their entry-level contracts and can pass freely to the minors.

An injury could change that equation, with Chytil the name to watch. He missed the last four practices with an upper-body injury, but Laviolette sounded confident the 24-year-old center be back at some point this week. As long as he doesn't suffer a setback, the best guess here is that Cuylle and Othmann will start the year with AHL Hartford.

Whenever a call-up is needed, though, I do believe that Cuylle is positioned as the next man up. He's a year ahead of Othmann in his development and should get a chance at some point this season. It's easy to envision him slotting into the left-wing spot on the third line.

"Based on his year last year that he had as a really young player in the American Hockey League, scoring 25 goals in (69) games and playing physical with his size and skating, he’s certainly a player that is on an upward trajectory," Laviolette said earlier in camp.

What almost certainly won't happen is one of those kids sticking around as the 13th forward. They need to play, not watch from the press box, which is why the waiving of veteran forwards Alex Belzile, Jake Leschyshyn and Riley Nash over the weekend doesn't really affect them.

The player who stands the most to gain is Brodzinski, who has emerged as the clear favorite for that extra forward spot. Laviolette has praised his "speed and tenacity," while making him the only player to appear in all four preseason games thus far.

"It's earned," the coach said prior to Saturday's 5-3 loss to the Islanders. "I think he's played really well."

That may have been the one true camp competition, and it looks like Brodzinski wrapped it up fairly early.

Defensemen

Makes the cut (7): Adam Fox, Erik Gustafsson, Zac Jones, Ryan Lindgren, K’Andre Miller, Braden Schneider and Jacob Trouba

Misses the cut: Ben Harpur and Mac Hollowell

Analysis: No surprises here.

The six defensemen who will play in the opening night lineup are set, and even though it hasn't been a great camp for Jones, I can't see the Rangers taking the risk of placing him on waivers. He should stick around as the seventh D.

A trade would clear space for Harpur, but otherwise these should be the seven. Hollowell was placed on waivers Sunday and will be assigned to Hartford if he clears.

Goalies

Makes the cut (2): Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick

Misses the cut: Louis Domingue

Analysis: No surprises here, either.

Quick is sporting an unsightly .821 save percentage this preseason, but he's a decorated veteran who had the backup job locked up the moment he signed. It'll take more than a couple uneven performances in meaningless games to change that.

Any doubts about that were squashed when Domingue was placed on waivers Sunday.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Final roster projection for the 2023-24 NY Rangers