Drew Fortescue using final Rangers stretch as important experience…
This stretch is all about an introduction for Drew Fortescue. All about an opportunity — seven games as of now, 10 if he performs in the Rangers’ final three games — to flash his potential and collect experience for all the pieces that follows in his profession.
The Blueshirts’ 5-3 loss to the Sabres on Wednesday captured each of those layers for Fortescue, their third-round choose in 2023 who inked his entry-level deal after his Boston College season ended and burned his first 12 months.
He collected a Buffalo turnover and hit Alexis Lafrenière in stride to select up an help that served as his second profession point, and he also encountered the challenge of playing a Sabres team that has “a lot of size” along with being expert, Mike Sullivan said — and that’s one thing Fortescue will continue to face during the final three games against the Stars, Panthers and Lightning.
“We’re gonna play some teams coming up that have a lot of size,” Sullivan said after Wednesday’s game, the Rangers’ final one at the Garden, “and I think defensively, that presents a challenge for a young player — just strength-wise, box-outs, things at the net, things of that nature. … On the defending side, we’re continuing to work with him with just some of the nuances and the details. “But I think the biggest challenge is — not just with Drew, but young players in general — is just the speed of the game and the size and the strength of the players. But we’ve really liked what we’ve seen from Drew so far.”
Fortescue targeted on getting stronger during his third and final season with the Eagles, too. He’d talked with the Rangers entrance workplace about taking a affected person method to turning professional, about choosing one final 12 months of faculty before bolting for the Rangers, and he admitted to reporters in his first press convention after signing that he still has “a long way to go there” together with his strength.
Drew Fortescue passes the puck during the Rangers’ win over the Panthers at Madison Square Garden on March 29, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
But the point of burning the first 12 months of a three-year deal is to gather those experiences going into the summer season. In six games, he has delivered six hits and blocked six pictures while ending with a plus-five.
Next, Fortescue — who has skated on the second defensive pairing alongside Braden Schneider lately — will get an opportunity to face a Stars team that has already clinched a playoff spot, a Panthers team eradicated from postseason rivalry however has received the past two Stanley Cups and a Lightning group crammed with loads of veterans who keyed their run to consecutive Stanley Cup titles and three straight appearances in the Final earlier this decade.
Fortescue’s assists have served as tangible indicators of his skill set already translating to the new level, too.
“Just so many things that we like about Drew’s game that we’re excited about,” Sullivan said Wednesday. “The pass he makes on [Lafrenière’s] goal is an example of it. He sees it pretty good. He can pass the puck.”
Defenseman Drew Fortescue appears to be like on during the Rangers’ win over the Panthers on March 29, 2026. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
Lafrenière’s pair of objectives Wednesday turned the loss into his third multi-goal game of the 12 months, and with 24 objectives — which ranks second on the Rangers — this season, he sits just 4 away from matching his profession best of 28 from 2023-24.
He’s also two factors away from tying his profession high for factors (57).
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