Official: Rangers Recall Vinni Lettieri and John Gilmour from AHL Hartford
With only ten games left to play, the Rangers have elected to use the games as an opportunity to get another look at two of the Hartford Wolf Pack’s most effective players this season:
OFFICIAL: #NYR have recalled defenseman John Gilmour and forward Vinni Lettieri from @WolfPackAHL. pic.twitter.com/SVMkSGW2vI
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 18, 2019
With four non-emergency recalls from the AHL allotted after the trade deadline, the Rangers have used two of them to give Vinni Lettieri and John Gilmour cups of coffee on Broadway to close out the season.
Gilmour was named to the AHL All-Star game earlier this season, and currently leads the Wolf Pack with a 20-33-53 stat line through 66 games. Gilmour finished the 2017-28 campaign on Broadway, but had been passed over in favor of Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek on previous occasions this season when the Blueshirts needed to recall a defenseman.
Based on that, it appeared that the Rangers were content to let him finish the season in Hartford and walk into unrestricted free agency. Gilmour’s promotion suggests that the organization would like one more look at him against NHL competition before being content with letting him move on for nothing.
As for Lettieri, this will be his third stint with the Rangers this season. Between making the opening night roster and earning a brief promotion back to New York in early February, Lettieri has only skated in 44 games for the Wolf Pack this season. However, his 23-23-46 stat line in those games makes him Hartford’s leading scorer on a per game basis. Lettieri has skated in 18 games for the Rangers this season, and has gone pointless in those games. Even still, he should serve as a more attractive option to fill out David Quinn’s bottom six as opposed to career AHLer Connor Brickley or defenseman Brendan Smith.