After signing his entry-level contract with the Rangers on Monday, Gabe Perreault headed to New York and checked in to the same hotel Brennan Othmann has been staying at since his recall from AHL Hartford at the end of February.
The two hung out that night as Perreault got settled in before they ventured to practice on Tuesday at MSG Training Center, where the newly signed 19-year-old participated in his first official practice with the Blueshirts.
They planned to go to the city together on Tuesday ahead of what could be Perreault’s NHL debut Wednesday night against the Wild.
The Rangers have had an abundance of youth in their lineup this season and Perreault only brings the average age down even more, but it has seemingly been beneficial for all the youngsters.
“I was watching [the NCAA tournament] and obviously you’re rooting for him,” Othmann said. “You talk to him throughout the year and you kind of get the sense what’s going to happen with what he’s going to do and you’re rooting for him to get that championship, but at the same time, there’s an opportunity for him to be here with the organization whether it was in Hartford or whether it was here. He has a great opportunity to come here and play and I’m happy that he’s here.
“It’s another younger face, I guess, in a sense. We’ve built a pretty good relationship at those development camps and we’ve been there for only — I don’t know, I guess it’s like a 10-day total thing over the last couple years.”
Perreault joins the Rangers’ 22-and-under club alongside Othmann, Matt Rempe, Will Cuylle and Brett Berard.
If he plays on Wednesday, Perreault will be the third Blueshirt to make his NHL debut this season after Berard did on Nov. 25 and the since-traded Victor Mancini did on Oct. 9.
Othmann remained on the right wing of the Rangers top line next to Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, while Perreault was put on the second unit alongside Alexis Lafrenière and J.T. Miller.
That left a third line that featured Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Will Cuylle and a fourth unit made up of Berard, Sam Carrick and Jonny Brodzinski.
The defense pairings remained the same, with Zac Jones and Calvin de Haan the odd men out again.
Rempe, who has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, participated in practice on Tuesday in a green noncontact jersey.
The Rangers signed 6-foot-3 goalie Callum Tung out of UConn on Tuesday, the team announced.
Tung will report to the Hartford Wolf Pack on an amateur tryout for the remainder of this season.
The 21-year-old Tung posted a 10-4-1 record, a 2.01 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage in 15 games with the Huskies this season, and led UConn to their first-ever NCAA tournament.
