There is a growing sense that Victor Mancini will be on the New York Rangers’ opening night roster. Mancini has had a strong training camp and took full advantage of his opportunity. He’s really outshined all of the other young defensive prospects who were eying a roster spot and worked his way up the depth chart just based on his overall play. The 22-year-old has been just as impressive offensively as he has been defensively, which is something Mancini takes pride in. “I feel like my game is as a very dependable player, very two-way style of play,” Mancini said. “To be able to help this team out in any situation that they need, that’s what I’m going to do. Just being here, trying to help the team in the best way I can, work as hard as I can in practice and have some fun too.” Following Monday’s practice, there were a slew of reporters who came to talk with Mancini, almost an indication that he will make the team. Zac Jones appears to be a regular in the lineup now that Adam Fox is out. Jones has had a great attitude with everything thus far this season. Mancini seemed to be in pretty positive spirits and despite no news coming out about his position with the Rangers, the overall vibe felt like he already earned a spot in the NHL. While being interviewed, Mancini opened up about what it would mean to him to play with the Rangers to start the 2024-25 campaign. “I’ll be at a little loss for words I think,” Mancini said. “It would be very special to share that with my family as well whenever that first game might be. To share that moment with them would be the best part for me.” With Ryan Lindgren expected to miss the start of the season with an upper-body injury, Mancini will likely get a brief amount of time to show he is indeed an NHL caliber defenseman. Now it’s time for the 2022 fifth-round pick to do what he does best and prove people wrong.
