Rangers 'Secret Weapon' Is Coming To Training Camp

Nobody else is writing about a 22-year-old Rangers defense prospect but so I'm giving you the first heads-up about Victor Mancini.

The blueliner hails from Hancock, Michigan where the claim to fame is that it's the "Second Snowiest Town in America.

Hancock, by the way, is just across the street from Houghton, Michigan, site of the very first pro league on the continent.

Longtime – and very intelligent – scout Jess Rubenstein called my attention to 6-4 220 pound "Vitto Vittorio" who emerged as a prospect last year at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

"He's the prototype stay-at-home defenseman," Rubenstein explains, "with excellent on-ice vision. He's more a passer than a scorer but his offense is coming around. His game is a lot like Marc Staal's when Marc was a Ranger."

Plucked in the 2022 Draft, Mancini went in the Fifth Round, 159th overall.

"He reads the game off the puck and is very alert defensively," according to another scouting report.

Now that Staal has moved into the Rangers general staff as a defensive consultant, Marc likely will give special attention to Mancini.

Rubenstein: "Victor has a similar style to Staal, especially on the physical side. I project Mancini eventually as a third-pair Rangers defenseman with some power play work."

AHL Hartford figures to be the prospect's next stop in Mancini's progression to the big club.

"The best thing about him," Rubenstein concludes, "is that Victor is working on his development."

We'll see how close Mancini is to making the Blueshirts by the end of camp. So far, so good!