{"id":186827,"date":"2026-04-06T06:42:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186827\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T06:42:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T06:42:12","slug":"four-rangers-making-most-of-chance-to-carve-spot-early-in-nhl-careers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/186827\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Rangers making most of chance to carve spot early in NHL careers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rangers\u2019 top two 2023 draft picks made an impact almost instantly upon joining the team.<\/p>\n

Gabe Perreault figures out his game with every shift, culminating in his first hat trick Saturday<\/a> against the Red Wings to reach 25 points in 49 NHL games.<\/p>\n

Pearl River native Drew Fortescue and his homecoming for his debut provided one of the more feel-good moments of this lost 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n

In the grand scheme of this evaluation period for the organization, however, the prospects who have been longing for their moment are making up for lost time with the Blueshirts. Each day is an opportunity for Matthew Robertson, Jaroslav Chmelar, Adam Sykora and Dylan Garand to finally work on carving their path at the NHL level \u2014 and they have each treated it as such.<\/p>\n

After years stewing in the American Hockey League, the four have made notable impressions.<\/p>\n

Sykora may be the most recent recall from the organization\u2019s AHL affiliate, but the 21-year-old has arguably made the most lasting impression in the shortest amount of time<\/a>. The 63rd overall pick in 2022 was in the midst of his third full season in Hartford when the Rangers called.<\/p>\n

Adam Sykora #38 of the New York Rangers during the first period at Madison Square Garden, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in New York, NY. Jason Szenes for the New York Post<\/p>\n

He has everyone rooting for him. No one\u2019s demeanor has been more infectious.<\/p>\n

Scoring again in Sunday\u2019s 8-1 win over the Capitals<\/a>, Sykora now has three goals and an assist through his first seven games.<\/p>\n

His best buddy and Hartford roommate, Chmelar, has been in Hartford since making the jump from Providence College in 2023-24. Since the 144th overall pick in 2021 earned brief recalls in November and December, the 22-year-old has adjusted to the speed of the NHL and been much more effective in his fourth-line role.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s allowed Chmelar to position himself in the dangerous areas of the ice more, which has led to more offense. He earned the secondary assist on Sykora\u2019s second-period score Sunday.<\/p>\n

Between his 6-foot-4, 226-pound frame and his commitment to finishing checks, Chmelar hasn\u2019t looked out of place on the ice.<\/p>\n

Robertson has been with the Rangers since opening night, but he didn\u2019t become a serviceable every-night defenseman until mid-November. The 2019 49th overall pick spent the previous four full seasons in Hartford without a call-up until the second-to-last game last season.<\/p>\n

Rangers defenseman Matthew Robertson #29 scores the game winning goal during the overtime. The New York Rangers defeat Boston Bruins 4-3. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

Now, Robertson has appeared in 59 of the last 60 games. He\u2019s even gotten top four minutes at times, logging the fifth-most ice time among all Rangers defensemen so far this season.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no question Garand earned at least one more game after his first two NHL performances. He is 1-0-1 with a .954 save percentage and a 1.44 goals-against average.<\/p>\n

The early numbers are encouraging, but head coach Mike Sullivan said he felt completely comfortable with Garand between the pipes just based on what he was seeing from the rookie netminder.<\/p>\n

Selected 103rd overall in 2020, Garand made his Wolf Pack debut in 2020-21 and was in the midst of his fourth full AHL season at the time of his recall last month. The Rangers have continuously maintained third-string goalies over the years \u2014 such as Louis Domingue and Keith Kinkaid \u2014 that have filled in whenever Igor Shesterkin and\/or whichever backup was injured.<\/p>\n

Even this season, the Rangers signed Spencer Martin out of the Kontinental Hockey League in November. He appeared in six games for the Rangers this season amid injuries to Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick.<\/p>\n

But it was finally time for Garand, who expressed just how much he\u2019s been clamoring for the opportunity after his first win on March 27.<\/p>\n

Dylan Garand #33 of the New York Rangers defends the net during the second period when the New York Rangers played the Winnipeg Jets. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n

While Noah Laba could be considered among the long-awaited prospects, the 111th pick in the 2022 draft essentially jumped from college to the NHL. He played 11 games for the Wolf Pack at the end of the 2024-25 campaign before making the Rangers lineup straight out of training camp.<\/p>\n

In Sunday\u2019s win, Laba was a goal shy of a Gordie Howe hat trick after notching an assist on Sykora\u2019s goal and dropping the gloves with Washington\u2019s Hendrix Lapierre.<\/p>\n

Laba hasn\u2019t spent extended time in the minor leagues like Robertson, Chmelar, Sykora and Garand have.<\/p>\n

Those four have made the extended wait worthwhile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Rangers\u2019 top two 2023 draft picks made an impact almost instantly upon joining the team. Gabe Perreault…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":186828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,24,55,54,541,539,56,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-186827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-new-york","9":"tag-new-york-city","10":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","11":"tag-new-york-city-news","12":"tag-new-york-rangers","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/186828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}