Not sure if there’s a lot to make of this or not.
But the Rangers have an agreement with Raphael Diaz — who was signed for one year, $700,000 as a free agent over the summer, but had to be demoted to Hartford (AHL) — to recall him or release him. They reached that agreement upon sending Diaz down, when there was a question of whether he would report or go play in Europe.
Diaz, a defenseman who has many of the skills an Alain Vigneault-coached team needs — he played in the Stanley Cup Final in 2014 — didn’t make the team in training camp because the Rangers felt he had a good chance to clear waivers (he did) and that if they sent rookie Dylan McIlrath down instead, McIlrath would be claimed (he would have).