Rangers Victor Mancini working to "find positives" as he remains a regular healthy scratch

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Joshua Deeds
November 10, 2024 (4:57 PM)

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Since Zac Jones has gained the trust of Peter Laviolette, rookie defenseman Victor Mancini will be taking an ancillary role with the team.

Mancini beat out multiple veterans in training camp to find a spot in the roster, and they included Chad Ruhwedel, who was later assigned to AHL Hartford.

He beat out Chad Ruhwedel, who the Rangers were willing to lose on waivers on Oct. 24 in order to keep Mancini around.

Ruhwedel ultimately cleared and was assigned to AHL Hartford.

But the last three games for Mancini have been the roughest, as he's been a healthy scratch. This could be Peter Laviolette seeing who is a better long-term fit for the Rangers.

Despite that, Mancini remains positive about his prospects is there as support.

«It's been just somewhat internal of taking things day by day and making sure when I'm on the ice trying to be as locked in as I can in practice,» Mancini told The Post on Saturday morning, after staying on the Little Caesars Arena ice extra long with fellow healthy scratch Jonny Brodzinski. «When I get that extra time on the ice with the coaches by myself, just making sure I'm trying to do the right things and working on my game, working on skills.

«On top of that, just being a good teammate, being supportive. I think our team, we've hit some ups and downs, but I think we're just a really powerful team. When we're clicking, things are heading in the right direction - just being supportive of that. Being supportive of the guys in practice and off the ice has been what I've been trying to do.»

Idealistically, no one desires an up-and-coming rookie defenseman to ride pine so often. However, Mancini has been "fast-tracked" into his spot in the NHL, which means observing games could be beneficial.

But in the long run, he could use more reps to put what he's seen into practice.

«I think that there's a balance there,» Laviolette said earlier this week. «I do think it's OK for a young player to come out of the game once in a while and to watch and to go over video and watch from a different angle and then to work on things in practice. I think that's OK. I think you've got to be careful that those stints don't get extended and stay too long.»

The Rangers are focused on keeping Mancini confident, all the while making sure he's consuming the lessons he's watched, and understanding them.

It seems that if Mancini was destined to be sent down to the AHL, they would've already.

Could it be sooner, rather than later that he'll find his way into the lineup?