NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It sure seems that come February, the Rangers will be sending three players to Russia to represent the United States in the Olympics.
David Poile is the general manager of the U.S. team, as well as the general manager of the Predators, and made it clear before the Rangers beat his team, 2-0, Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena, that Ryan Callahan, Ryan McDonagh and Derek Stepan were all pretty well locked into spots on the team.
Though Poile had previously said he thinks the team will look very similar to one that won a silver medal in Vancouver in 2010 — a team that only Callahan was on — that there are still spots available.
“All those guys that played there in 2010 certainly have their foot in the door,” Poile said. “They deserve the opportunity to come back. It’s not going to be everyone, but it’s going to be most of the guys that played in 2010, for sure.”
Callahan is a given, as Poile said the Rochester native became part of a five-player leadership group established earlier this year. McDonagh, from St. Paul, Minn., has sure made his case over the past couple seasons, and Poile wasn’t coy about the defenseman’s prospects.
“He has played really, really well,” Poile said, “and I’m very confident that he has an excellent chance of being on the team.”
Though McDonagh said he wasn’t particularly thinking about playing in front of Poile, Stepan didn’t hesitant to make the acknowledgement.
“It’s a tough thing not to think about,” said Stepan, who scored a goal while his Wisconsin teammate, McDonagh, also scored and was dominant in his 25:58. “With them here, it’s obviously in the back of your head.”
Poile said his team is in need of centers, and Stepan could well fit.
“We have really good centermen, but we’re not really, really deep at center,” Poile said. “So I’m trying to say it the right way, but we’d really like Derek to be on the team.”
The team roster has to be set by Jan. 1, and the Olympic break spans from Feb. 8-25.
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Despite missing Friday’s practice after taking a shot on the outside of his right foot on Thursday, defenseman Marc Staal played and was a plus-1 in 19:48 of ice time.
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Michael Del Zotto stayed in on defense, while Justin Falk and J.T. Miller remained the healthy scratches. Forward Benoit Pouliot played a team-low 8:48.