A few hours before his first NHL playoff game, Vincent Iorio sat on the visitors’ bench at Madison Square Garden and gazed around the empty building, knowing it would soon be packed with fans. Then with the Washington Capitals, he was preparing for Game 1 of his team’s 2024 first-round series against the New York Rangers. He can still picture the rally towels draped over every seat.
“Stuff you dream of as a kid,” said the 6-foot-4 right-shot defenseman, whom the Rangers claimed last month on waivers from the San Jose Sharks. “I’m able to snap out of reality a little bit and take in all the sacrifices, the hard work, the sweat, tears, and just be grateful for what I have.”
Iorio’s first playoff game didn’t go as he hoped. In the second period, Alexis Lafrenière checked him into the boards, seized possession of the puck and picked up a secondary assist on an Artemi Panarin goal. Iorio, meanwhile, left the game with a shoulder injury and didn’t play the rest of the series, which the Rangers swept en route to an Eastern Conference final appearance.
Shortly after Iorio got to the Rangers, defenseman Adam Fox brought up the play in front of both him and Lafrenière. Iorio is known for his positivity; no way he was going to hold onto any hard feelings. The now-teammates shared a laugh.
The Rangers and Iorio are both in different spots than they were two seasons ago. New York isn’t a Presidents’ Trophy-level team anymore and has entered what general manager Chris Drury called a retool. Iorio, Washington’s second-round pick in 2021, is no longer a prospect. Now 23, he has been on waivers twice this season and is looking to establish himself as an NHLer.
“I think he’s a good piece for us that I think has a lot of potential to grow,” said fellow defenseman Braden Schneider, who played three seasons of junior hockey with Iorio on the Brandon Wheat Kings in the WHL.
The match makes sense. With the Rangers sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, they are in position to take fliers on unproven skaters with upside. Not every waiver pickup turns into Gustav Forsling, who appeared on Norris ballots the past two seasons and won a pair of Stanley Cups with the Florida Panthers. But teams find useful depth players on waivers every year. This was a low-risk proposition for the Rangers.
Best-case scenario, Iorio emerges as a bottom-pair defenseman who plays a simple, reliable game. Worst-case, the team either puts him back on waivers or opts not to give him a qualifying offer this summer.
Regardless of the outcome, Iorio — who has played 31 career games, 22 this season — will likely get plenty of opportunities.
“He’s a guy who has all the tools,” said Mark Derlago, an assistant with the Wheat Kings. “He’s just got to find the right situation. Hopefully he’s found it now.”
Iorio is a solid skater for his size. His mom, Jennifer, deserves at least some credit for that.
Growing up in the Vancouver area, Iorio initially didn’t love hockey. He gravitated more toward soccer. But when he was around 6, he asked to take the ice again, wanting to play with some of his friends. His parents were all for it, but Jennifer — who was a figure skater as a kid — wanted him to get some extra skating help. She put him in lessons with Bruno Delmaestro, a former figure skater for the Italian national team. Those sessions both ensured he didn’t fall behind the kids who started hockey before him and taught him a lasting lesson.
“He really, truly understands the importance of ensuring that skating technique is just something you refresh every offseason,” his mom said.
“That definitely paid off,” Derlago added. “His edges were unbelievable, the way he could cut (around) that net so tight at the frame he has.”
After two seasons at Shattuck St. Mary’s — a Minnesota prep school known for churning out hockey players — Iorio opted to play in the Western Hockey League rather than go to college. Schneider remembers him bringing a “very bubbly, very positive” presence when he arrived in Brandon. Derlago, who joined the Wheat Kings staff for Iorio’s second junior season, immediately saw the defenseman’s pro potential: the size, skating ability and desire to succeed. By Iorio’s draft year, a scout or two was at every game to watch him, Derlago remembered. The Capitals ended up selecting him in the second round, No. 55 overall, in the 2021 draft.
Iorio never became a mainstay in the Capitals’ lineup, but he helped their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, win the Calder Cup in both 2023 and 2024. He experienced the physical strain of postseason hockey — he recovered from the Lafrenière hit in time to join the Bears’ 2024 playoff run, then hurt his hand in the conference final — and saw what it was like to play in elimination games.
While on the Bears, Iorio wasn’t able to get back home to British Columbia during the AHL season’s short holiday breaks. Instead, his parents and younger sister, Olivia, came to see him. Twice, they all decided to spend Christmas in Manhattan. Jennifer brought stockings, which she hung in their hotel room.
On the first of those trips, a couple of months before Vincent’s NHL debut with Washington, the Iorio family decided to go to Madison Square Garden for a Rangers game against the New York Islanders. The defenseman watched from the stands, no clue he was sitting in his future home rink.
“Lots of memories (in Manhattan),” his dad, Mario, said. “Hopefully that continues.”
On Jan. 31, Iorio was at the Sharks’ team hotel in Calgary, counting down the minutes until 2 p.m. ET, when he would find out if a team had claimed him off waivers. While talking with his parents on the phone, an idea popped into his head. He loves capturing memories, and he saw a chance to document a big moment in his life. He set up his iPad and started a video recording as he waited.
“I don’t know, Mom,” Jennifer remembered him saying. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Then, at 2:02 p.m., an X post from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman popped up on Iorio’s feed, saying the Rangers had claimed him. Excitement washed over the defenseman.
“That’s so cool!” his parents said over the phone.
Vincent Iorio played 21 games for the San Jose Sharks before being put on waivers. (Darren Yamashita / Imagn Images)
With that, a whirlwind began. Iorio ended the call with his parents when Drury called to welcome him to the team. Next thing he knew, he was on his way to Denver, where he caught a plane to New York.
“I think he could potentially help us with our puck-moving ability back there,” coach Mike Sullivan said that day. “I think he defends pretty well with his size. I know our hockey operations department obviously thinks highly of him, and that’s why they claimed him. I look forward to seeing him in person and getting to know him and working with him.”
Doug Gasper, who worked in the Brandon front office when Iorio was there, is now a scout for the Rangers. Drury presumably consulted him before claiming the defenseman.
The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranked Iorio the No. 6 prospect in the Capitals system before the season, but Washington opted to put him on waivers in October rather than make him its No. 7 or 8 defenseman. San Jose claimed him, and he appeared in only 21 games for the Sharks, logging three assists and averaging 16:30 a game. One NHL scout who watched him this year said he’s long defensively, allowing him to break up plays, and can play a simple, puck-moving game. The scout added he wished Iorio brought a little more physicality to match his size.
Iorio said he’s focused on being reliable: “Making sure I box out, close on pucks, break out pucks to the forwards and join the rush as much as I can.”
The defenseman made his Rangers debut in the last game before the Olympic break, then had a few weeks to get acclimated to his new surroundings. He moved into an apartment in White Plains, N.Y., not far from the team’s practice facility, and already has familiarity with several teammates. He went to Shattuck-St. Mary’s with forward Brendan Brisson and defenseman Scott Morrow, then played alongside Schneider in Brandon. When New York claimed Iorio, Schneider’s dad, Kelly, called Mario Iorio and mused about teaming up for a potential dads’ trip to a Rangers game.
Iorio never skated on a defensive pair with Schneider while in junior hockey — both are right shots, so the Wheat Kings had them each man one of their top two pairs — but the Rangers tried them together at practice Tuesday. The coaching staff then put Iorio with Matthew Robertson on Wednesday. The team has eight defensemen on the roster currently, so Iorio might not play every night, but Sullivan seems like he wants to get a look at the newcomer coming out of the break.
Iorio described his season as busy. He acknowledged he questioned himself after going on waivers twice, but said he fell back on his positive mindset. He views any day he spends in the NHL — whether in Washington, San Jose or New York — as a privilege.
“I know the 10-year-old Vinny would be so proud,” he said. “You’re eager to keep living that dream.”