New York Rangers Assign Matthew Robertson to Wolf Pack, Add Tarmo Reunanen to Taxi Squad
Today New York Rangers announced a change to their taxi squad before departing for the West Coast.
UPDATE: Tarmo Reunanen has been recalled to the #NYR taxi squad and Matthew Robertson has been assigned to @WolfPackAHL.
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 4, 2022
With Ryan Lindgren healthy, it makes sense that the Rangers essentially added someone new to their taxi squad that’s only going to play in the event there’s a real emergency.
Matthew Robertson hasn’t appeared in any NHL game action to date, and being sent down to allows him to prepare for Hartford’s slate of games this weekend on Friday, January 7, and Saturday, January 8. The move also stops the clock on his remaining taxi squad eligibility, and starts up Tarmo Reunanen’s.
Per the NHL’s document on taxi squads, “No individual Player may spend more than twenty (20) cumulative days on the “Taxi Squad” during the temporary formation period.” Robertson was added to the taxi squad a week ago, so under those rules he’d only be able to remain on the taxi squad for 13 more days. Now Reunanen’s clock starts, and he appears to be the designated “in case of emergency defenseman”.
It essentially is a game of musical chairs to give the team the most flexibility in the event something bad happens, and it makes sure that extra players aren’t sitting too long without game action.
